A Tau'ri in Westeros
by fmfan1980
Summary: After a mission that went wrong, Captain Alayne Collins of the Tau'ri finds herself on another world. A medieval world were she finds herself with a double of her mother and brother- that is if she can save them from their fate. A world where her double is surrounded by lions, a world where the powerful play games of betrayals. And all Alayne wants to do is return home.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to the characters, locations, or plots from Game of Thrones. And I don't kow the rights to anything from Stargate SG1. They belong to their respective owners without whom this fanfiction would not have been possible. All reviews are welcome

 **Hyperspace. Year: 2032**

"Okay," Captain Alayne Collins said as she stared out the clear canopy of her F-502 space superiority fighter, through her full visored helmet, at the blueish-white streaked hyperspace tunnel. She then looked back down at the central console in front of her where the middle screen was showing an outline of her plane with a section of the aft ventral section, and the accompanying hyperspace reactor within its housing highlighted in bright red. She then took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone within her helmet, "this is Captain Alayne Collins of the Tau'ri, does anyone copy? I repeat, I am Captain Alayne Collins of the HMS Avalon- part of the Tau'ri Task force Omega. I am currently on heading…." Alayne paused and stared at the topmost screen, and frowned since she was getting an error message, "I have no idea. I was supposed to be heading for the rendezvous point with the Avalon once the energy spike was detected in the core of the Brotherhood's home base, but there must have been something that went terribly wrong."

And immediately, she thought of the violent jolt that occurred just as she entered the hyperspace window after the planet, P6U-839, exploded violently. 'Hopefully the Brotherhoods weapons have been destroyed.'

'And as for my plane, of course something went wrong, it's my luck,' Alayne thought to herself as she turned her head to the side panel on the port side of the cockpit and pressed a button for the seventh time while saying out loud through her microphone and into the Voice Data Recorder, "I've tried to deactivate the hyperdrive on my Sparrow, but nothing's happening."

She turned back to the outline of the plane, "I've been getting the same error message since the jolt which accompanied the jump into hyperspace. The message says that the Hyperdrive controls to the reactor have been fused. In addition, I have been detecting heavy radiation spikes from the aft sensors coming from the reactor housing." Alayne looked back up at the tunnel and continued, "I don't know if anyone can hear me, but for the past ten minutes, the Hyperspace reactor's temperature has been creeping upwards." She knew that once the temperature went over a certain number, then the engine would become unstable and cause a violent explosion.

"I've been in the tunnel for over two hours now with another three hours of fuel for the hyperdrive," Alayne continued through her microphone, "but from my calculations, the overheating will cause the engine to become critical in another ten minutes... give or take."

Alayne then closed her eyes and took a deep breath while thinking over her options. She didn't want to think about how she got herself into her current situation, at least not yet. The rising temperature was too much of a worry to spend time in her memories on the events that led up to this moment.

"Okay," she breathed out opening her eyes, "what's the first step… first step…" Alayne mumbled to herself as she stared at her lower screen on the central console before biting her lower lip in worry. "Anyone hearing me? I'm running systems check prior to ejecting the hyperdrive. I'm not taking any risks that the temperature would be going back down to normal." Alayne knew it was extremely risky to release the hyperdrive out of its casing within the plane. However, that's what the latest version of the hyperdrive built for the F-502 Sparrows were designed to do in the event of any faults. However, it was never meant to be ejected in a hyperspace tunnel, and Alayne had no idea what would happed to the Sparrow if she did, "I just hope to God I'll be close enough to a planet with a Stargate."

And that was the other issue. She would be ejecting the Hyperdrive, and hopefully be ejected from Hyperspace through a window into normal space. And if she was ejected in open space with no planets in range of her Sparrow's fusion engines, then she would be in deep trouble- especially since the range of her subspace communications systems were limited to 5 light years in all directions.

With those thoughts in her head, Alayne began her systems checks hoping that she was in range of any Tau'ri ship, base, or in range of any allied civilizations once she exited the window.

"Subspace comms are green, fusions engines are green, weapons are green, inertial dampeners are green, hyperspace engines are non-operational, emergency systems are…" Alayne saw the letters on the screen turn yellow when it came down to the emergency systems- the emergency naquada generators that would kick in in the event the Sparrow lost all power from its main reactor- "we'll find out once I eject the hyperdrive. And life support is green."

Taking another deep breath, Alayne reach for another button to the starboard panel and whispered, "ejecting hyperdrive on my Mark". And Alayne the took a deep breathe before breathing out slowly, "Three, two, one…. Mark." Her finger went down on a blinking yellow button. There was a slight jolt that caused a rumble to go through the entire plane as a panel on the aft ventral section slid open. This was followed by sparks that erupted from within a recessed area before a glowing green square box slid out into hyperspace.

Back in the cockpit, alarms went off warning that the rear fusion engines were disabled as the hyperspace tunnel was torn asunder with the Sparrow released violently into normal space. Just before the window shut down, Alayne's sensors detected an explosion, and then the window shut behind her. However, the plane wasn't slowing down. Alayne was breathing in and out slowly trying to keep calm as her speed continued to increase. She grabbed a hold of the controls as she felt the G-forces through the protection provided by the inertial dampeners. Alayne gritted her teeth as the ship shot through open space, the blue hue from the rear engines gone- the ship hurtling forward through sheer momentum alone with nothing to stop it.

"Shields are operational!" she yelled as the Sparrow rumbled through space with an orange hue enveloping the ship before fading away, the shield emitters around the ship automatically activating to protect Alayne from anything that may damage the ship at such high speeds. Alayne began the standard procedures for restarting the fusion engines while her scanners detected a planet several hundreds of thousands of miles away. She looked up from the scans on the screens in front of her and could already see the blueish glow from the planet before she looked back down at her controls, "restarting engines in three, two, one." Alayne pressed a few buttons before the ship started to rumble once again.

A blue hue flickered from within the two fusion engines at the rear of the plane, with the hyperspace engines darkened due to lack of the hyperspace reactor. The flicker from the fusion engines slowly became steady while, at the same time, Alayne regained control of the Sparrow's speed and started slowing down. From within the cockpit, the rumble started to lessen as a quiet hum went through the ship.

'There we go,' she thought to herself as the engines were fired up and the ship began to fire its RCS thrusters to slow down, 'ease off, ease off…' The Sparrow slowly came to stop a hundred thousand miles from the planet which was now larger than a few seconds ago. Alayne was breathing in and out deeply while beginning scans of the surface through the upgraded Asgard-Tau'ri hybrid scanner package while she called out for aid through her subspace communications systems, "I'm not sure if there is anyone who can hear me, but this is Captain Alayne Collins of the Tau'ri calling for help on all allied channels. Does anyone read me?"

There was no response.

"I can't stay up here for the long haul," Alayne whispered to herself while she pressed a few buttons on the forward console while making sure that the radiation on the aft section of the Sparrow was now at tolerable levels, "and the radiation levels have returned to normal." She then turned her head to the port side and stared down at the planet below, "I can go down to the surface and wait for rescue. The problem is that I'll be alone." At least that was according to the scanners which were showing the planet below being devoid of life despite having all the requirements for life to exist.

'Curious,' Alayne thought as she began her descent through the atmosphere, "initiating distress signal. Hopefully one of the ships from Homeworld Command will be heading this way if they haven't heard from me within three hours." Alayne then frowned while her ship trembled and groaned while flames erupted around the shield as the Sparrow shot through the upper atmosphere, 'hopefully they'll find signs of my entry window and extrapolate the direction I was heading until now.' Alayne hoped it wouldn't take too long to find her since she didn't want to be the only lifeform on the planet.

And it was then that a thought entered her mind, 'this planet has everything needed to sustain life, so where… what the..?' As the flames petered out, Alayne glanced at a warning blinking red before it vanished…. As did the rest of her Sparrow's power, 'power surge… there was a power surge warning,'. All the systems were now deactivated as the Sparrow fell like a rock through the exosphere and was entering the thermosphere.

"Come on, come on, come on," Alayne whispered to herself while her body was being shaken to her bones as she fell towards the surface. She, with her trembling hand, pressed a button that would have normally deactivated all the Sparrow's systems. She then counted to sixty while feeling as if she was going to be torn apart while the plane hurtled down towards the surface as it entered the mesosphere, "come on.. start…. Start…" Alayne whispered continuously as she depressed the button that should restart all systems once again. After she did, the young woman noticed flashes on all her forward screens in the center console. She watched as her digital compass and horizon came online, she watched as several other buttons lit up just a she grabbed the navigation stick with one hand and the throttle with another hand.

She then glanced at the reactivated inertial dampeners before firing up the engines. There was a low hum before the vessel rumbled, a sign that the engines were reactivated. The blue hue reappeared from the rear engines before the ship started to slow down its descent. And eventually, just before entering the stratosphere, the Sparrow was back in Alayne's control and was shooting across the sky as it made a controlled descent. Alayne wanted to land the plane so that she could run a proper diagnostic- perhaps reset the entire system in the even the power surge caused the Sparrow's computer programs to become corrupted.

As she flew, with some sweat on her forehead, it was the beeping sound that brought her attention down to the central console. She stared at the lower screen which started to indicate signs of life from the surface as the plane closed in on the troposphere. Alayne narrowed her eyes as the plane shot through the sky while, in the distance, the sun was starting to go down past the horizon. Breaking through some clouds a few minutes later, Alayne found herself flying through the evening sky high above a sprawling city- with the most distinctive feature being a red coloured castle that rose up off the edge of a cliff.

Staring awestruck at the tallest tower looking over a large bay full of ships, Alayne's eyes shifted towards the sensor readings on the console in front of her, 'over a million people.. woah. Why didn't my sensors get any of this?' Being over twenty thousand feet in the air in the darkening sky, Alayne knew that anyone down on the surface would be hard pressed to see her Sparrow as it flew, 'this planet was supposed to be uninhabited. So how did…' Alayne was confused now, 'and… and what was that power surge?' Alayne was curious a she set her sensors to detect any advanced technology, 'why else would there be a power surge that could shut down my Sparrow?' In the meantime, she stared back at the sensor readings.

"I'm getting life signs from all around me," she said to herself as more and more data rushed in from the plane's sensor packets. She flew East for a few hundred miles before she banked South. Impressed at the sprawling civilization beneath her, Alayne mentally told herself that this was a place worth exploring. But she needed a quiet place to land so that she could check on her plane out of the sight of locals who may be afraid of a great big metallic bird landing among them.

'Yeah, there's no need to scare the locals,' Alayne though, 'especially since no one from the SGC or Homeworld knows I'm here.' Banking her plane around and towards the North, she flew over forests and rivers which reflected the disappearing light from the sun.

"Wow," Alayne whispered, leaning to port to look through the canopy as she flew at great speed over a castle where the towers seemed as if they were melted like wax candles, "what happened?" She ran sensor scans from her Sparrow while she flew overhead and saw readings which indicated that the stone, although now solid, had been melted down, "the amount of heat it would take to melt stone…" Alayne wondered how the stone melted as she stared at her sensor readings, 'I'm not getting any sign of advanced technology'. And that brought about another question, 'so how is it that the most advanced sensors in the galaxy… sensors that could usually see several hundred meters underground… did not detect any lifeforms from orbit? What's going on here?'

It was a puzzling question for Alayne as she shot past mountain ranges to her starboard side, "sensors are detecting signs of life from the mountain passes." Alayne frowned as she continued North, the Sparrow's sensor packets, which could pick out enemy fighters a thousand miles away, were gathering a lot of data about the surrounding areas. As she approached what the natives called the Green Fork river, a chill went up and down Alayne's spine.

It was something she couldn't explain as she looked out the canopy and down at the glistening river below. It was a few minutes later, the plane continuing on at Mach 4, that she flew past two stones towers on either bank of the river with a bridge in between them. Alayne looked down at the fires and at, what she could barely make out from so high up, people who seemed to be partying.

At least that's what she thought.

She looked back down at her sensor readings, and they showed that there were no people a mile from the strange castle. Alayne scanned the nearby forest and saw that it was not populated, and she banked her plane and made for a clearing in the middle while the area surrounding the forest was devoid of people. Making her way over the clearing, the Sparrow hovered in the air as its landing gear extended out. The small plane then lowered itself towards the ground before the wheels gently rested on the hand grassy ground.

Alayne then reached forward and began powering down the ship and then she pressed a few more buttons to activate the distress signal. She hoped that there would be someone from the Tau'ri able to receive the signal before too long. She then pressed a few more buttons that began a full diagnostic of the computer system- a diagnostic that would automatically look for any corruption in the Operating System and, if found, fix it.

Sighing as a notification appeared on the middle screen in the central console that he diagnostic would take about an hour, Alayne pressed another button and watched as the lower part of the canopy flipped upwards while the rest of the curved glass composite slid back. She then reached up to the sides of her helmet and pulled it upwards and off. Alayne's bright red hair and green coloured eyes stared out her Sparrow's cockpit and at her surroundings as she placed her helmet in the recess in front of her feet and then pushed herself up off her seat.

As she stood up, her stomach rumbled at the various smells of cooked meat that wafted through her nostrils.

'There's no one close by, so the smell must be coming from the castle,' Alayne thought to herself as she wondered if she should go and mingle among the locals- at least until the diagnostics on her Sparrow's computer systems were completed, 'I'll need something that'll make me kinda fit in, and of course I'll need to be armed.'

Alayne thought as she turned around and reached forward. She grabbed her seat back and pressed a latch in the rear… the very same latch she would have had to press after landing safely following an ejection. The seat back pulled down and then Alayne reached in to grab an orange bag. Pulling it out of the recess, the young redhead then opened it up and took out the first thing she came across- a tactical vest. She put that on looking around and, upon finding she was still alone, reached back into the bag.

She then pulled out a plasma weapon along with its holster that she then wrapped around her left thigh. Taking out the weapon, Alayne set it to 'stun-mode' and then placed it back in its holster once again. The young woman then reached back down into the bag and retrieved the small rectangular subspace radio and ear piece. She placed the small earpiece in her ear and the radio, which was now tuned to a wide-band frequency, into the pocket in the left side of her vest.

With there being no external ladder to get back down onto the ground from the cockpit, Alayne was going to . Once she zipped up the bag, Alayne returned it into the recess before pulled the seat back up and clicking it into place.

'Now,' she thought to herself as she pressed a button on the port console and an external panel on the port section just outside the cockpit opened up and a metallic collapsible ladder extended outwards onto the ground. Alayne swung her feet over and then climbed down after pressing a button beneath a hidden panel that closed and locked the canopy. Once her feet hit the ground, she opened a panel next to the ladder and put in a code that pulled the ladder back into its housing.

'Let's see if I can find anything that'll help me mingle,' thought Alayne to herself as she walked towards the trees in the direction of the castle she flew over several minutes ago.

 **The Great Hall, The Twins, an hour and a half later.**

'We have guest rights,' thought Catelyn Stark to herself as she stood among the whooping cheers and yells of drunken joy all around then nodded her head at her brother, Edmure, who was being pushed past her and out the Great Hall with his new Frey bride. However, the thought that the combined Northern army, without the Karstarks, and the Tully's were being under Guest Right continued to repeat itself in Catelyn's thoughts as she turned her head and glanced at Walder Frey, 'the man is petty, deceitful, and has no honour. But not even he would do anything to violate Guest Right.'

Catelyn then glanced over at her son, Robb. She wasn't too fond of her son breaking an oath to the Freys in regards to marrying the girl, Roslin, 'I hope your mistake does not come back to haunt us, my son.' However, she couldn't stay mad at Robb for long, especially given that his wife was pregnant with the heir to Winterfell and her grandson. But the redhead couldn't help but, at time, glare at Talisa before looking away to her right as the bedding party exited the door. It was then she noticed two things, someone slipping into the Great Hall wearing a cloak and a hood that hid the face, followed by one of the Frey's closing the large doors to the Hall, and then locking it.

Narrowing her eyes as a chill went up her Spine, Catelyn's eyes search for the figure in the cloak and found her at the corner of the Hall staring back at her. It was then, under the lights of the torches along the wall, did some of that light land on her face. And Catelyn stared at a surprised face locking back at her.

"Sansa?" she whispered. Catelyn saw the woman, a few strands of red hair across her face, mouthing something she couldn't hear before looking away and shaking her head. Catelyn was about to stride towards the woman who looked so much like her daughter… she wanted to know how it was that she got out of Kings Landing, she wanted to know where Arya was, she had so many questions go through her head when she suddenly froze.

She opened her mouth wide in stunned silence as her head and the her body turned up to the gallery where the minstrels where now playing a song she dreaded to hear. The Reyne's of Castamere, Catelyn thought to herself as she looked back down to search for the figure from a moment ago. However, she was nowhere to be found. Catelyn's mind was in a jumble as she listened to the song play while everyone else was cheerful with drinks in their bellies and enjoying the wedding.

'No…. Walder Frey would never dare… no,' Catelyn thought to herself before catching sight of the figure from earlier heading for the large locked doors.

"Your Grace," the eldest Frey exclaimed in what Catelyn considered a mocking tone. She stared at the figure who stopped moving and stared with a look of surprise at Robb who stood up from his seat. Catelyn wanted to yell out for the figure she thought was Sansa, but before she could say anything she felt a hand grab her own. Turning around while Walder spoke to Robb about honour and oaths, Catelyn stared into the cold eyes of Roose Bolton. She saw his eyes flicker downwards while holding her hand tightly. Catelyn licked her suddenly dry lips and looked down at his hand- she could see a glint of metal.

And Walder continued to talk down to Robb about not giving the latter the proper congratulations for his wedding.

Catelyn reached out with her trembling left hand and grabbed the end of Bolton's sleeve and pulled it up.

'Mail,' she thought looking back up at the look on victory etched on Roose Bolton's face, 'no.' Catelyn glanced at the figure who was staring back at her, then at Robb. Catelyn could see the figure's eyes narrow in what looked like confusion as she stepped a bit to the left, away from the doors as if to get a good view of her.

"Sansa!" Catelyn yelled out at the top of her voice, "you must leave!" Catelyn saw everyone stop celebrating, even Walder Frey stopped talking and stared at Catelyn. Roose Bolton himself stared at Catelyn and then turned around to the figure who pulled back her hood and stared at Catelyn in surprised confusion.

"Sansa?" Robb whispered turning around and setting his eyes on the redhead with short hair ending just at the back of her neck.

Catelyn then slapped Roose before turning back as the Lord of the Dreadfort was pushed back towards another table form the force of the slap. She then turned to Robb, "it's a trap!"

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Great Hall, The Twins, now.**

It had taken stealth and a bit of luck for Alayne to steal a hooded cloak from a drunken guard close to the castle after she left the relative safety of the forest nearly twenty minutes ago. With her dark blue flight suit and black vest helping to camouflage her as the sky got darker, Alayne was able to hop onto the back of a covered cart that was being pulled by two horses towards the entrance of the castle. After jumping onto the back, Alayne covered herself with the thick, grey, woollen blanket that covered what she thought was barrels of salted pork. At least that's what the barrels smelled like as she covered her nose while covering herself with the thick blanket. It would be several minutes later that the cart stopped, and she heard someone asking what was inside the cart.

"Salted pork," the male holding the reins of the horses said gruffly, "for the wedding."

'Oh, crashing a medieval wedding?' Alayne thought to herself with interest expressed on her face, 'this is going to be interesting. So that's why people were enjoying themselves. It's a wedding,' Alayne smirked as the cart began to move once again. She waiting for several more minutes before the cart stopped and she slipped out. From then on, Alayne had been sneaking around, using the crowd as cover, to observe the mass of people celebrating as they ate and drank. Eventually, she figured out that the real wedding had to be taking place within the castle walls – the ones partying outside the castle walls were the bannermen of the wedding party and the hosts.

And Alayne wanted to check it out. She graduated from the Academy with a degree in Aeronautic Engineering, but her passion lay in anthropology and archaeology. So, observing a real life medieval wedding was a once in a lifetime experience for her as she made her way through the drunken throngs of men. She watched the long wooden tables full of food and mugs of ale… at least she thought it was ale, she watched as women were serving various tables while a few others were being groped. Alayne even had her rear end smacked once or twice, with the ones responsible laughing it off as she rushed off. As Alayne went on, she listened as the bannermen yelled at each other about how the King in the North would win the war.

'King in the North?' Alayne thought to herself as she cautiously weaved through the crowds. 'Is there some kind of war going on or…' Alayne stopped walking and darted into a shadowy section of the hallway she just entered into. She realised that this was going to be a problem. If there was a war going on, then she had to put her head down and stay out the war if she could. It had been drilled into her after joining Stargate Command that the Tau'ri would steer clear of the internal affairs and conflicts between governments on alien worlds - the infamous Tegalus Incident came up to the forefront in her mind. Stargate Command didn't want another scenario like that; it had been drilled into all new recruits to the SGC. So, Alayne told herself to be very careful.

'I already landed the F-502 in an isolated area away from any human beings,' Alayne thought once again, 'so that shouldn't be a problem. And this is just an observational mission. I'll head back in another hour after some exploring, and then I'll broadcast the distress signal.' As Alayne continued on further into the castle, she thought to herself, 'I was supposed to reach the rendezvous point in five hours. After that, if I'm not there, then there would be a search party. I'm guessing I'll be spending at most twenty-four to forty-eight hours here.' At least, that's what she hoped.

Entering another hallway, Alayne heard the sounds of distant music and yells of celebration. She then heard people yelling that it was time for the "bedding ceremony".

'I read about this,' Alayne thought as she crept towards the wide-open wooden doors affixed with seven pointed stars in the center of both wooden doors as revellers were rushing out- the group pushing along a nearly naked man and blushing woman who was in her underwear. The hooded redhead then slipped into the room where they exited from and gaped at the size and extravagance of it all. As she walked down a side of the wall in the rear of the room, Alayne marvelled at the sight of the great stone hall, the torches that hung on the walls; she then looked up to see the candles in the chandeliers… their light illuminating the entire room. She caught the scent of cooked meat and looked at the tables as she crept to a corner of the room and scanned the area with her eyes, taking in the sights and sounds before her.

And then Alayne felt herself being watched as she stood under the light from one of the torches in the corner. Her eyes shifted to the direction of where her gut was telling her that she was being spied upon. It was something that Alayne didn't understand, she was among several hundred people who were celebrating this wedding feast, 'so how can I be recognized? As far as I know, there are no other SG teams here, or else I'd have detected the signals from their subcutaneous transmitters. And… wait… how?' Alayne lost her chain of thought as her eyes caught the eyes of the woman looking back at her.

Alayne couldn't believe her eyes as she widened them at seeing the other redhead staring back at her.

'No,' she thought as the voices and yelps of celebration faded into the background. She stared at the older redhead, 'It can't be.' Alayne knew it was simply not possible.

"Mom?" Alayne mouthed silently as her memories flashed back to what happened three years ago.

 **Heathrow, London, three years ago.**

It was a long and boring flight from Colorado Springs to London, via Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Alayne breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the plane, walked to the luggage carousals to collect her bags, and then to catch a taxi outside the arrival hall. Alayne walked out of one of the exits and flagged a taxi – she finally returned home after a year's tour with her SG-14 team in the Pegasus Galaxy. Getting into a taxi, she sat on the rear seat with her bags – two black coloured carry ons – next to her before telling the driver her destination. Once the driver nodded his head, started the meter, and then started driving towards the City, Alayne leaned back on her seat and took in a deep breath.

Just as the driver left the vicinity of the airport, Alayne reached into her jeans pocket and took out her phone. She swiped the screen with her thumb and then searched her Recent Calls for her father. Then she dialled her father, who was in Washington D.C, and told him that she reached London, and that he couldn't tell her mother or brother that she was on the way to see them.

"It's a surprise, daddy," Alayne said with a smile as she placed her hand on top of one of the bags to her left, "anyway, yes…. I reached Heathrow safe and I'm in a taxi now. I'll give mom and John your love." Alayne then made a smooch sound on the phone that had the driver slightly chuckle, "See you and Aunty Karla here in three days." Alayne then disconnected the call and put the phone back in her pocket.

And smiled at thinking about the reactions from her mother and brother.

Alayne's mother came to the forefront of her mind as she watched the cars rush by the other side of the road. Her mother, Becka Collins, was a banker in the City with one of the top financial firms while her older brother, Johnathan, was a solicitor with the Crown Prosecution Service. He was the only one in her family, other than her mother, who did not join the military. Alayne's father was the British military attaché to Homeworld Command, and her Aunt Karla was the black sheep of the family – an aspiring musician who had only just gotten noticed after playing several gigs in London and several places throughout the United Kingdom. She was now on tour in the United States after having been discovered on one of the four talent competitions in the U.K. And then there was her cousin, Robbie, who was a Colonel, and still is, in command of the Tau'ri Defence Force's latest BCS 304 ship- the Aurora.

It would just before reaching London, that Alayne noticed several jets flying through the air at top speed, 'F-502's? Why have Sparrows been deployed?' she thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes at the twelve jets which began pulling up as they fired plasma blasts into the air. And then, suddenly the ground shook after a loud BOOM filled the air. A chill went up Alayne's spine when she heard a second BOOM! Alayne then heard the driver yell out "Fuck no!" before slamming on the brakes as she, sitting in the back seat, grabbed on tight to the handle in the interior of the taxi just above the door. She shifted her position to stare at the four gigantic fireballs in the distance through the windscreen as the taxi skidded while screeching to a stop. She saw more explosions in the sky as the F-502's took down seven other streaks that had just cut through the clouds.

She was only thirty minutes away from London when it happened- the day a group, later identified known as the Brotherhood, launched an attack on Earth.

Major cities were targeted, among them London where a large section of the city was destroyed. It claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the capital with over two million worldwide, with even more injured. And among the casualties were Becka and Jonathan Collins. Alayne had her hands over her mouth while tears welled in her eyes as the Shard, the location where Becka worked, was one of the buildings that shattered from the shockwave of the blast and was toppled to the ground.

Alayne called Becka, hoping against hope that she could reach her mother, 'maybe she's home, maybe she's sick… oh God please be sick.' But there was no answer, all she received on the call was a voice saying that the call could not go through. And it was the same for her brother.

While casualties were being counted on Erath, there were simultaneous attacks on Chulak and several allied worlds by the then mysterious Brotherhood - all using previously unseen technology.

Earth and her allies were at war against the Brotherhood. A war that was still ongoing.

 **The Twins, now.**

Alayne shook her head in disbelief before she tore her eyes away from the woman who looked so much like her mother as music continued to play from the gallery above her. 'It can't be possible.'

Alayne felt as if she was having trouble breathing. She needed to leave. She stepped back and turned to leave. She needed to get out. 'It's not possible… how…? How…?' Alayne had taken a few more steps while her hood covered her face - no one noticed her in the crowd of people celebrating this wedding. 'I need to get out… I.. I need air…' She suddenly stopped before reaching the doors that had been closed soon after she entered. The music had changed. A chill went up and down her spine as she slowly turned and stared at the musicians playing in the gallery. The song was haunting, but it filled her with a kind of dread she couldn't explain.

Shaking her head, she began to make her way for the doors again. She was going to use the party atmosphere to leave. But then, before reaching the doors, Alayne heard the old man seated at the high table at the other end of the room say, "Your Grace!"

Alayne stopped mid-stride before she glanced at the old man as everyone started to take their seats, just as the noise all around her started to die down. There was something dreadful in the song that had been playing until now, and there was something in the man's voice that had a chill go through Alayne.

"I feel I've been remiss…" the old man continued to speak as Alayne stared at him.

There was such anger in that voice - the tone was similar to the time her SG-14 team, as well as SG-21, had gone to P7V-273 to finalise a treaty that would allow the SGC to mine Trinium. The SGC had given the local chieftain favourable terms, but the man got greedy at the very last moment when it came to signing the document. The tone in the man's voice - that of masked rage and mockery- was similar to the old man as he stood up and raised his glass.

Once again, Alayne's blood froze as the one the old decrepit man referred to as 'Your Grace' stood up and walked up standing next to the front table. The glimpse of his face as Alayne slowly walked back towards the corner for a better view had her heart beating hard, 'how is this possible? How is there someone who looks like mum and John living on another world?' Alayne stared at the man's dark red hair, and then at the worried looking woman who was looking at a man with thinning grey hair while, at the same time, the old man was talking about honour and oaths.

And then a dangerous feeling permeated the room; to Alayne, it was exactly like that mission.

'I hope not,' Alayne thought to herself. She didn't want to get involved since she had no business being on any side of someone else's war. Adding to that that, even if she did want to help, she was the only one on the planet with any advanced technology… technology that was now a little more than an hour away from her by foot. 'I should leave,' Alayne thought as she watched the older redhead's eyes widen as she pulled up the sleeve of the grey-haired man, 'I need to know how it is that a copy of my brother and mother are living on another world, maybe I should…' Alayne took a few more steps to the left to see what it was that worried the older woman. Suddenly, the older woman stared directly at Alayne and yelled out for all to hear.

"Sansa! You must leave!" At that shout, the sounds of celebrations faded as a confused Alayne pulled back her hood while the clone of her brother turned around and stared at her in surprise.

"Sansa?" he said with his eyes narrowed. Alayne felt everyone looking at her, even the wrinkled old man who stopped talking, as well as the bald man who turned to look at her with eyes so cold and dark that she swore she was staring back at a soulless creature. Alayne wanted to say that she wasn't who they thought she was while thinking to herself, 'who's Sansa? Do I have a double here too? What's going on?'

"Robb!" the woman yelled after she slapped the bald man until he stumbled back into another table while the others gawked in disbelief, "it's a trap!" And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Roose Bolton was surprised at the slap followed by the push by Catelyn. He had thought she wasn't Northern enough- that she wasn't hard enough for the people of the North. The slap surprised him, the fact that he was sent stumbling back surprised him even more. He pushed himself off the table and then turned to the younger redhead just as Catelyn turned to Robb and yelled about a trap. All the while, the Bolton was rushing at 'Sansa' with a gleam in his eyes.

'Sansa Stark, how did you escape King's Landing?' He pushed the surprised girl who yelled out, "look out!" back against a wall. The older Bolton knew that Sansa was a Southern girl who believed in the knights of songs and stories. She believed in hope and honour and did not know the real world- at least that was the Sansa he had heard about. The same Sansa he wanted wed to his heir, Domeric, before he mysteriously died.

As the arrows flew while he pushed the younger redhead against the wall, Bolton heard the screams from his 'Queen' – Talia Stark. He saw Sansa's green eyes as they widened at the sight behind him after arrows from the crossbows where launched from the gallery above them.

"Green," Bolton whispered as he stared into the eyes of the girl he thought was Sansa. The Sansa he had heard about... the one who went to Kings Landing with her father and sister was blue eyed and aged thirteen years. But the girl, no... woman… he held against the wall did not have the Tully blue eyes. The woman he was holding against the wall was older, older than what he believed Sansa should be. And then the eyes. Bolton saw those green eyes stare behind him in shock. He thought he saw a reflection of an arrow going through Robb's shoulder and another missing Catelyn entirely through those eyes.

And then, time seemed to slow down even more.

When those eyes focused on him… the Lord of the Dreadfort saw rage. He saw the eyes of someone who had seen war. Someone who had killed. His eyes narrowed in confusion before he felt himself being pulled away. He was about to turn while he reached for his dagger, he was going to kill whoever it was that pulled him away. He was going to stab them before turning back to 'Sansa' - he would take her back to the Dreadfort and interrogate her. After all, after that very night, the Lord of the Dreadfort would be the Warden of the North, and he thought to himself, 'after thousands of years, the Red Kings rule the North.' He thought to himself that the green eyes were a trick of the light- that Sansa Stark had really escaped Kings Landing and fled to the Twins after having heard about the wedding.

'I win… I will have Sansa Stark marry my bastard, and then the North is mine,.'

* * *

Alayne saw the thin haired man rushing at her. But she stood in place, for a moment she forgot all her training as the faces of the people who looked like her brother and mother were attacked in front of her very eyes. And then, she felt the thin haired man with cold eyes grab her arms and push her back against the wall. She stared into his cream coloured eyes and shivered. And then, all hell broke loose. She glanced at her right side to see the surprise on numerous men and women before they were cut down by axes and swords. And then she saw movement to her two o'clock, "look out!" She yelled. But it was too late.

Alayne's eyes were wide open as the dagger was thrust into the abdomen of the pregnant woman who screamed in pain the four times she was stabbed, blood dripping on the flood each time the blade was pulled out of the bleeding belly. Time then stopped when Alayne's peripheral vision caught sight of her 'brother' stepping back as an arrow struck through his right shoulder. Alayne wanted to yell… her mind was buzzing… it was yelling at her to remember her training. She had seen war, she had killed, she had been injured, she had seen people die… but these people here were copies of her mother and brother.

'Mum, John,' she thought to herself as time seemed to go back to normal. She heard the sickening sounds of arrows slicing through the air and into bodies, and the sounds of weapons cutting through flesh. She heard yelps and screams from the tables as people fought to survive. And then Alayne stared at the man holding her arms. She saw coldness in his eyes… but there was rage in hers. She didn't know these people who were duplicates of the family she lost, but they were not going to die. Alayne was prepared to make a move when she caught sight of her 'mother' rushing up to the man, grabbing his shoulders and pulled him back. Alayne saw anger flash on the man's face as he was pulled back, and then he reached to his side to grab a handle.

'Some kind of bladed weapon,' thought Alayne as she grabbed the man's left hand after it pulled out a razor-sharp dagger. The man had already let go of her arms when he was being pulled back, allowing Alayne to make her move. She saw the man and woman look back at her in surprise before she twisted the man's hand, the dagger falling onto the grey coloured floor with a clang, and then she stepped forward and struck the side of his exposed neck. She then pushed him away from her 'mother', grabbed her right hand and pulled just as arrows from above whizzed by and hit the table to her right.

"Get down!" Alayne yelled as she pushed the older redhead under the table before she, having caught a look of perverse joy from the old man as he held a mug in his shrivelled hand watching the massacre all around her, joined the older redhead under the table.

"Sansa, I…." Alayne looked back up at Catelyn, while at the same time, she reached under her cloak and pulled out her plasma gun from its holster. Alayne shook her head and said, among the yells of fighting and the clash of metal, "I don't know a Sansa… but…" Alayne wanted to continue. Her heart clenched at the sight of the look of confusion on the woman in front of her. But what mattered now was survival. She knew the people in the gallery had to be taken out first. 'They have the high ground… and while I don't have a crossbow with me, I have the next best thing. A plasma weapon.'

"Stay here," Alayne said staring into the blue eyes of the woman in front of her, "stay here… it's safe. The arrows can't get you." Alayne then turned and, while crouched, slinked over to the other end of the table where she saw the redhaired man who looked like her brother. 'He can't be more than what… eighteen?' she thought as he crawled towards the bleeding woman. She looked back at people stabbing the ones who were unarmed, she then looked back at the woman who looked like her dead mother whispering as she stared at the old decrepit man from beneath the table.

"Traitor, oathbreaker," she muttered angrily towards him before she turned towards Alayne.

Alayne's lips were pressed together, 'she looks just like her' before looking out to the rear of the room as more of the unarmed died. Alayne had her weapon in her hand, the very weapon she could Catelyn glancing towards periodically. Alayne looked down and set the weapon to kill – the musicians in the gallery were the ones armed with crossbows, and they were surrounded by a wooden fence-like structure all around them, 'probably to prevent any arrows from getting through. But I don't have arrows, just the next best thing.'

"Sansa… why did you… what are you wearing and what are…." Catelyn asked in surprise as she stared at Sansa and her clothing, her eyes then glancing at the strange object in her hand, before looking back up at the look of, what seemed to be, regret on her face.

"I'm sorry, Miss," Alayne said looking at the woman, "I'm not…" Alayne stopped delaying, people were dying. She told the woman to stay under the table before she got out, glanced at the red-haired teen who was crawling to the woman who had been stabbed, turned, and aimed her weapon up to the gallery. Alayne took a few steps back to get a decent shot and depressed the trigger.

'Thoom' sounds heralded each bolt of plasma that was fired from the weapon. The multiple blots of plasma, each held together within a magnetic shell, impacted the wood and shattered it. The shrapnel blinded the ones on their knees as they reloaded their weapons on the gallery. The plasma blots were being fired automatically; they tore through the wooden and melted through the armour of the attackers in the gallery – all before anyone had a chance of shooting Alayne with an arrow. The attackers in the gallery cried out in pain before they fell dead. The sounds made by the destruction of the wooden wall, and the screams of the 'musicians' impacted by the plasma bolts rang out through the hall.

And suddenly there was silence. Alayne turned around and aimed her weapon at those in the room who were still standing, all staring stunned at her. She switched the weapon to stun, knowing from the indicator on the casing that the naquada in her weapon was currently recharging its energy cells after releasing most of its stored capacity. She glanced at the redhead staring at her while his hands pressed down on the woman's belly. She then looked up and met his eyes.

"Sansa?" he whispered shaking his head before looking back down at the woman, blood pooling beneath her as her lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling. Alayne saw tears streaking down his cheeks while he pressed down harder on her bleeding abdomen before looking back up at the stares she was getting.

Alayne could tell from the blood loss that the woman was now dead.

"Now," Alayne said as she cautiously walked over towards the red headed teen who was putting pressure on the wound in the belly of the pregnant woman while the shaft of an arrow jutted t through his left shoulder. "Let's take it easy. This is a wedding, so…"

"What are all of you cunts waiting for," the old man behind Alayne screeched as he stood up and pointed at Alayne and the others, "kill them all!"

Alayne tightened her grip on her weapon as she aimed it towards her front. She still scanned her left side, and saw there were no one with any weapons to her left, and then to her right. She saw the woman who looked like her mother leave the relative safety of the bottom of the table and stood there in stunned silence. Alayne then stared at the unconscious man with the cold eyes just as two people rushed at Catelyn, and another two rushed at Robb who was still mourning his wife's death.

"I said kill them all!" the old man behind Alayne yelled

Alayne saw the six people rushing – two for her, two for Robb, and two for Catelyn. She saw their swords were already drawn as they ran towards her and the others.

"Damn it," Alayne whispered as she fired her weapon twice at the ones coming at her. One blue bolt of energy hit the chest of a bearded man, and then the head of a man whose face was already covered in blood. The energy bolt acted like a Zat blast, it rendered them unconscious before they crumbled to the ground. The sight of the blue bolts, and the yellow ones from a few seconds ago, stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Witchcraft, magic, blood magic," those were some of the words being whispered by the people in the room while Alayne stared at the young man, Robb, she remembered her mother's-look-alike calling him; Alayne's weapon aimed at the two behind him. She then turned her head to the right, towards the two who were sneering at her… the ones who were going to run the older redhead through with their swords.

"Like I said," Alayne spoke staring at the two men who were glancing at each other, and then at her mother's look-a-like. In the back of her mind, Alayne was reminding herself to get the woman's name while she spoke, "my idea of a wedding is that there's supposed to be no killing on such a happy day." Alayne tried to sound a little sarcastic to hide the fact that everyone - mainly the people she guessed were guests to the wedding, were the ones being attacked. "Where I come from, I heard about the right of guests – that guests were supposed to be unharmed," Alayne said, her head turning back towards Robb, who still had an arrow impaled through his left shoulder and was now leaning against a table after he pulled himself up off the floor, grimacing in pain, with his bloodstained right hand.

Alayne then turned her head back to the older redhead who called her Sansa, "am I wrong?"

* * *

"N… no," Catelyn whispered in shock as she stared at the woman who looked just like her Sansa. The older redhead didn't know what to think, her mind trying to process what just happened. She couldn't hear any voices from the gallery above, nor could she hear the sounds of crossbows being loaded, nor of anyone playing music. Catelyn then stared at the two men who collapsed onto the ground, and then her eyes shifted towards who she knew in her heart was Sansa looking back at her while the object in her hand was pointed at Robb.

'No, pointed behind Robb,' Catelyn thought to herself as the two supposed Frey knights, took several steps back.

Catelyn heard the sounds from earlier from when she was under the table, and then she saw what looked like blue coloured lighting shoot out from the object in Sansa's hand – she knew in her heart that this woman was Sansa, no one could tell her any different - and hit the two Freys.

"Sansa, what... what are you doing?" Catelyn asked as she tried to hold on to some hope… no matter how silly.

* * *

"What are you all doing? Stupid sons of mine! Kill…." Alayne frowned at the old geezer yelling from behind her. Her skin crawled while thinking that he was staring at her while giving out the order to kill them, and then he was interrupted before finishing his rant.

"Silence, traitor," one gruff sounding man yelled out from the crowd before there were more yells. Alayne saw fighting start again, this time the ones who were unarmed were fighting back; taking the others by surprise. She didn't know what to do now… she didn't know who was good or who was evil… she intervened for the safety of the teen, the one referred to as 'your highness' and woman who looked like her dead brother and mother. And now she was in a middle of a great fight.

While more men fought, the two who were heading for Catelyn rushed at her. Alayne threw all caution to the wind and fired at the too before she turned and fired at the two who were almost onto Robb as he picked up a dinner knife… the only weapon close enough to reach with his good arm. Alayne shifted her position while feeling someone brush past her. Alayne fired, the electrical charges dropping the two men before she turned to see the woman who looked like her mother rush around the high table while grabbing a long bladed cutting knife that had been stuck into a large block of what looked like cheese. Alayne saw two women, both of whom looked as if they were in their early teens, run away while the old man stared in terror at Catelyn rushing at him.

Alayne aimed the weapon at her… but she hesitated. The woman looked like her mother… even her voice. Even her eyes were as blue as Becka's. Instead, Alayne aimed the weapon at the retreating Walder Frey, and fired a blue stun blast.

The man collapsed as he tried to run, but he hit a chair on the way down after the blast impacted him and blue energy crackled around his body. As he went down, his head slammed the side of the chair next to him. Alayne and Catelyn stared each other while Walder lay unconscious on the floor before the older redhead kneeled and stabbed the old man.

"Traitorous filth," Catelyn spat as she stood up, her right hand was stained with fresh blood and she turned towards Alayne, who was staring at her stunned. All she wanted to do was stun the man so that the woman who looked so much like her mother wouldn't kill.

'But this is not mum,' Alayne reminded herself, 'she's someone else.' Alayne then turned and stared at the dead on the floor while others in furs stood over the bodies.

"Mother!" a woman yelled. Alayne turned her head towards the source and saw a woman in a blood stained green dress rushing to the left, dropping the dagger she was holding in her hand. Alayne felt the rush of wind as the woman who looked like her mother ran towards the redhaired teen who was leaning back against the table. He nodded his head, Alayne saw as she holstered her weapon. He looked back at her with narrowed eyes while panting. Alayne tore her eyes away from the man who looked so much like her brother as her mother's-look-alike rushed to the sobbing woman who was kneeling next to a body covered in blood.

"Who… who did we lose?" the redheaded male asked as he looked to the right, "Lord Umber? Who did we lose?"

"Maege," the large, stout, bearded man said while blood was dripping from his fists. Alayne saw him close his eyes and press his lips together into a scowl before continuing, "we're still counting the dead."

The redheaded teen then yelled out, "Fuck! How many people did we lose? How many people did that fucker help kill?" Alayne saw his eyes widen before he slumped forward. She rushed forward at him while her mother's look-a-like yelled out, "ROBB!"

'Robb,' Alayne thought to herself as she reached him and held him up while careful to avoid the shafts of the arrows that dug into him.

The two of them stared at each other before Robb narrowed his eyes and mumbled, "you're not Sansa."

"Sorry, I'm just someone who I guess must look like her," Alayne said as she stumbled back while trying to hold him up… his weight pushing her back as several of the men from the crowd rushed forward.

"Get her away from the king."

"She's a witch… hold her for…."

Alayne turned her head towards the group coming at her before she heard the man she was holding on to say in a rasping voice, "hold! As your king, I am ordering you to hold!" Alayne looked back at Robb, and then back to the group who were now standing still… some unsure about what to do next, while the others were glaring at her as they held blood stained dagger, cleavers, and even some held what looking like butter knives.

"Your Grace… she…"

"Just hold," Robb whispered before looking back at Alayne who was pushing back up with her legs so that Robb wasn't leaning all the way on her. "We… we have to leave… we…"

"Robb?" the older redhead said as Alayne turned her head towards the man she was holding up. The woman rushed to her with tears in her eyes as she held his right arm, "Robb? We'll leave… we'll get Edmure and leave. We'll take Sansa…" It was then that the woman turned to Alayne with tears in her eyes and then back to Robb, "we'll…"

"I can't feel Grey Wind anymore," Robb whispered.

Alayne was wondering what the words 'Grey Wind' meant when her mother's-look-alike gasped out, "What?"

"I think he's dead," Robb whispered, "I can always feel him, even when he's hunting, but I can't feel him now. We have to leave… we have to leave right now." The woman opened her eyes wide at Robb while Alayne looked on hearing the anguish in Robb's voice.

"Lady Stark?" Alayne looked up at the one Robb called Lord Umber, and then back down at Lady Stark, "if the direwolf is dead then…"

"Then there is fighting ongoing outside these walls," Alayne listened as Lady Stark's shoulders sagged and she stepped back, "they betrayed us. The Freys, the Boltons… they betrayed us."

"Then all we have to do is collect Lord Edmure and then kill his Frey wench, and…"

"No," Robb whispered out, "she's a Tully now. She's Kin."

"We'll fight our way out of here," said the same female voice from earlier as she strode towards the group with anger etched on her face.

"Dacey," Robb said while he was being held up by the two women, "we need a plan, I…"

"How many people do you have?" Alayne asked. She mentally cringed when everyone turned towards her, most staring at her with suspicion. But she didn't show herself being affected by their stares, "how many?"

"Sansa, you…"

"She's not Sansa," Robb said looking up at his mother who turned her head towards him with an expression of surprise, "look at her eyes, mother. They're green, not blue. She looks like Sansa but…"

"No… no…"

"I'd like to explain everything," Alayne said in a gentle voice as Catelyn looked back at her, 'she looks traumatised… and I doubt this is what made her so scared for this Sansa person, that she thinks I'm her.' Alayne continued, "but if there's fighting outside, and we're the only ones alive here then we don't have the time for any explanations."

"Use your magic," the one named Dacey said, "swear fealty to the King in the North and use your witchcraft or magic or… or whatever it is for the North."

"Sorry," Alayne said shaking her head at Dacey, "I can't do that and… before you ask why, I have my own reasons. And besides, what I did wasn't magic."

"Sansa…" a horrified Lady Stark asked, "we saw you perform feats of magic."

"Not magic," Alayne said looking back at Lady Stark before looking at Robb, "if you're their leader, then my advice to you is that we need to get the hell out of here. What I did with my weapon isn't magic, and it isn't enough to hold off…" Alayne then looked at Lord Umber, "how many people are there?"

"3500 Stark, Boltons, and Tully's, and 3500 Freys or more," he answered with a look of confusion before he shook his head and growled, "you bewitched me."

"No, I didn't," Alayne frowned before turning to Lady Stark who said that the Boltons helped the Freys commit this treasonous act. Alayne knew what that meant; they were outnumbered. She knew that even with her plasma weapon, there was only so many targets she could take out before the overwhelming numbers of the enemy took her and the others down. The only hope they had in getting out of the castle alive was using the fighting as a distraction to escape, and then using her F-502 for air cover; but the Sparrow was more than an hour away on foot.

'I saw some horses by the stables I passed,' Alayne said, 'but I have no experience riding.' She frowned at herself as she looked away while the others tried to come up with a plan of attack that wold ensure their survival. But Alayne knew that very few would survive, especially if what she had seen was any indication. 'They were drunk, or on the verse of being drunk,' Alayne thought back to the unarmed guests as she crept through the Castle. Even these guys here.. the guests were unarmed, but the hosts seemed to be ready for a fight.' Alayne guessed it would be a slaughter out there, 'I'm sure some would survive.' She then looked back at Robb and then at Lady Stark who were talking to each other, 'they look so much like mum and John. It's so uncanny. I wanted to just crash this wedding, check out what a real medieval wedding was like. But now… now… I can't let them die. I just can't. Not again.'

Alayne then opened her lips while thinking to herself, 'not again.'

"Look, I'm not from around here," Alayne said glancing at the hurt on Lady Stark's face before continuing, "I'm not this Sansa person. I'm from somewhere very far away." Alayne then lightly shrugged before saying, "I'm an explorer. And I'd like to explain more to you good people but I think the first thing we do is get the hell out of here? Agreed?"

"We… we must get to Edmure and his wife first," Lady Stark said, tearing away her devastated expression away from Alayne, "and then.. then… we go North."

"Moat Cailin would have been taken by the Ironborn," another man in the group said, "and the journey to Riverrun would be fraught with Lannisters and their bitches."

"We go North," Robb said, "we… we take the Kings Road. Nearly all the Freys would be here… we… we take the Kingsroad to the Neck and seek out the Cranogman." Robb looked at Dacey, and then at Lod Umber, "Lord Reed is a friend and ally of my father, and a loyal Bannermen of the Starks. They know the area around Moat Cailin very well, they will help repel the Ironborn. I will also sent Ravens to Lord Manderley and… and seek aid to attack the Moat from the rear."

"Robb," Lady Stark said as she pressed her hand on his cheek and turned his head towards her, "we…"

"I lost the North, mother," Robb said. Alayne saw the group in front of her look away in shame. She then turned her head towards Robb who winced in pain as he stood straight up, the arrow still sticking out, "but I will get it back. I will get our homes back, I will repel the Ironborn and... and when I get my hands on Theon? I will kill him." Robb then turned to Alayne, "I don't know why you look like my sister, I…"

"I don't know why you look like my brother," Alayne smirked as Robb tilted his head in surprise, "listen, how long would it take to get to this Moat Cailin place? Or this Neck you're talking about?"

'So, I look like his sister,' Alayne thought.

"Your Grace," another man yelled before Robb could answer. Alayne looked over Robbs shoulder at the dark haired man wearing a bloodied vest and trousers while aiming his sword at the balding man she knocked out earlier… the very one who held her against the wall, "what do we do with this traitor?"

"I say kill him," one of the surviving men said while the woman Alayne recalled was called Dacey rushed past them with her sword at the ready.

"Because of that fuck, my mother died," she cursed, "they broke Guest Right, he helped the Freys… the Boltons helped the Frey's! And none of them… especially this bastard, deserves to live." Robb looked over his shoulder as Dacey was about to bring her sword down.

"Dacey stop!" yelled Robb turning around, his voice echoing around the stone walled hall. Alayne saw the sword stop just before reaching the side of the unconscious man's head. Dacey looked up at Robb with eyes that were red and a face etched with rage. Alayne saw the arm holding the sword tremble while Robb spoke, "we will need him. If there is a battle outside these walls, he will be the best way for us to leave unmolested."

"You mean to take him as hostage," Alayne heard Lady Stark ask.

"Yes, I…."

Suddenly, everyone turned towards the rapping sound on the doors.

"Open the doors," a voice yelled out as sharp pounding of fists against the doors could be heard, "Lame Lothar, open up!"

"Ummm…" Alayne said pointing at the door, "is that the only way in and out?"

"Yes," Alayne turned her head towards Robb who answered, his eyes shifting towards her. And then, as if he knew what she was going to ask next, Robb continued, "there is a stairway behind the door to the left that goes up to the gallery."

Alayne nodded her head before she looked up over her shoulder at the shattered fencing at the edges of the gallery before looking back at Robb, "we need to get out of here." The moment she said that, there were more pounding on the wooden double doors. Alayne eyed it and noticed that there was a wooden plank that acted as a lock… the door wasn't opening from the outside. Alayne stepped back while the others planned a way out of their current predicament. She knew the longer they stayed in the room, the longer it would take for the enemy to finish what they were doing and then get back to the Hall.

'We could be outnumbered now,' Alayne thought, 'we lost time.' She looked back down at her plasma weapon and thought, 'I could overload the powercell. It would be enough for the resulting explosion to clear a hallway. And anyone else would be afraid of the sound… maybe we could play of off as the roar of a demon or something.' Alayne then looked up at the doors, 'then I won't have any other weapon other than my combat knife.'

"Lord Walder!" voices could be heard from the other side of the door.

And then there were more voice as the doors were being pounded upon, possibly by the weight of so many bodies that were pushing against it. Alayne took out her plasma weapon and looked down at the indicator, 'fully charged. So the explosion could be much….' She then looked up just as other voices could be heard in the distance on the other side of the double doors.

"For the North!"

"For Winterfell!"

"For the King!"

"The King in the North!"

The group inside heard more voices yell out, followed by clashes of steel against steel. Everyone listened in trepidation as the fighting behind the door seemed to go on and on. And then there was silence… and then heavy pounding on the door.

"Hey! Get her out of here!" Alayne glanced at Lady Stark as she breathed a sigh of relief – the older redhead recognised the voice. And then she yelped in surprise when she heard another voice, "no! I'm supposed to be here… mother! Mother!"

"Arya!" Alayne heard Lady Stark yell before she and several others rushed to the door. Alayne glanced at Robb who had his eyes turned towards her, and nodded his head. Alayne put her weapon back into the holster as she watched several men lift up the wooden plank before throwing it to one side. Alayne hand her hand tighten around the grip of her plasma weapon, ready to fire in case she needed to, as the doors opened and what looked like a short haired boy rushed in along with several other men covered in blood.

"Arya!" Lady Stark rushed forward to grab the boy.

'No, it's a girl,' Alayne thought to herself.

"While this is a great time for a reunion," a man in armour, with half of his face burned, spoke sarcastically as he looked over at the girl called Arya and Lady Stark, "there's still a shit load of fighting out there."

"Cat," another grey-haired man rushed to Lady Stark.

'Cat,' Alayne thought while she glanced at the woman called Dacey pulling up the unconscious man she knocked out earlier, 'strange name. Well… it's short for something.' She then heard the grey-haired man speak, "that bastard's right, there's a load of fighting outside."

"He almost ran away," the armoured man said as he spoke before looking around and then laid his eyes on Alayne, and he narrowed his eyes while staring at her with suspicion. He then shook his head before turning his head towards Cat who was holding her daughter tight. Alayne saw her looking back at Robb, and she slipped out of her hands and rushed to her brother. Alayne listened as the grey-haired older man black armour told Cat of how he was, in his words, taking piss when everything went to hell. There was no way to get back in without being taken or killed since he was unarmed, at least until he saw the Hound – Alayne glance up at the man who was glancing back at her- fighting while protecting a little boy. He was killing one Frey after another, and that's when he joined in.

"I picked up one of the dead bastard's swords and joined in," the older man said, "we have a hundred wounded men who are still strong enough to fight."

"Robb!" yelled the one Alayne thought was a boy, Arya, as she reached the two of them. Alayne listened to the old man say that they had twenty men sent to retrieve Edmure and his wife. Alayne then looked down at the little girl, she couldn't be more than eight or nine, with a very thin bladed sword in her left hand.

"Sansa?" she asked her eyes narrowed while looking her up and down, "what the hell are you wearing? How the hell…"

"Language, Arya," Robb said.

"Sorry," Arya frowned looking back at him, and then back at Alayne, "how the hell did you get out of Kings Landing? Did your precious Joffrey…" Alayne winced at the venom in the girl's voice when she mentioned 'precious Joffrey'. She wondered what happened between Arya and Sansa for there to be such anger in the girl's voice.

Alayne shook her head and sighed again, "I'm not Sansa."

"What are you…"

"Robb, Lady Stark," Alayne said as she stepped forward and walked around Arya who tracked her with her eyes, "we need to get out of here."

"Little Bird," the Hound said. His voice had Alayne turn her head up at him, "how did you leave…"

"Questions and answers later," Alayne said shaking her head before looking at Robb behind her, and then at Lady Stark, "we need to go now."

"Whoever this is…" the older man in black leather armour said staring at Alayne before turning towards Cat, "the fight outside is still ongoing. And we are very few. We have to use the distraction to leave the Twins and travel to Riverrun. There we will be safe. We can regroup and then strategize a counter-offensive."

"I cannot," the woman Alayne knew as Cat, said shaking her head, to the surprise of the old man, "Uncle, Robb is the Lord of Winterfell. And until he is married…" Alayne noticed Cat looking back at Robb with a sad look on her face while Robb turned his head slightly and stared at the body of the dead woman on the floor. She then listened while Cat continued, "until he is married once again, I am the Lady of Winterfell. My place is in the North."

Alayne could see the nods of head among the crowd around them, indicating they agreed with what Cat was saying.

"The Ironborn could have taken Moat Cailin," the older man in black armour countered.

"We will ask Lord Reed of the Cranogmen for help," Robb said while he grabbed the shaft of the arrow he was about to pull it out.

"Stop," Alayne said, grabbing his hand before it could touch the shafts. She heard sounds around her before there was a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face to see the older man from earlier. She glanced at his chest plate and noticed the emblem of a fish before she looked back up into his blue eyes, "listen to me very carefully. Unless you are a doctor or a healer of some kind, then do not have him pull out those arrows." Alayne glanced at Robb, "you pull them out, and they'll tear flesh and muscle apart, and you'll bleed more. Right now, your blood's clotted. You take them out now before seeing a healer, then you'll bleed to death."

"Uncle," Robb whispered as he looked over at Alayne with an amused expression, "when we reach the Greywater, I'll ask Lord Reed for one of his Maesters."

"Who is this that you place your trust in, nephew?" the man with the fish emblem asked nodding at Alayne.

"That's Sansa," Arya, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, said as Alayne rubbed her forehead and shook her head, "but how she knew all that about blood and arrows, I don't know. She's supposed to be far more interested in knights, and songs, and love, and princes, and…."

"Arya," Robb scolded his sister before looking back at Alayne, "you never did introduce yourself."

"Let's get out of here first and then…"

"If I am to die while we leave," Robb said, "then I would have the name of the one who helped save our lives."

"If you want my name?" Alayne countered staring at Robb, "then don't die." She then turned to the man with the fish emblem and said, "we use what's happening outside as a distraction, yes?"

The older man stared at Alayne with a look of suspicion.

"I take that as a yes," Alayne said before looking at Robb and his injuries. "Well, let's get out of here then."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**The Twins, Westeros.**

Alayne

The grey-haired, older man nodded his head at Alayne before he walked back and called out to the others. Alayne's eyes shifted towards Robb who was nodding his head at something the man said before his eyes shifted towards the girl identified as Arya. The little girl, whose looks combined with her very short hair could very well have passed her off as a boy, was staring at her while her little hands grasped the edge of one of the wooden tables. Alayne then looked away from Arya and turned towards the now dazed bald man, the one she heard was called Lord Bolton, being carried on the shoulder of one of the large men wearing a fur cloak around his shoulders before her eyes went back to Arya. Alayne wondered if she could have been her sister had her mother not miscarried.

'The baby would have been a girl,' Alayne thought to herself as one of the men pulled Arya back towards the group. Alayne sighed, glancing up at Catelyn who was occasionally looking over at her while nodding her head at something that Robb and the other Lords were whispering. Alayne's eyes then turned towards a tall woman in a dress holding a sword in her hand, 'I think she's the one called Dacey, the one whose mother was murdered.'

The people who were killed could not be brought back with them since they would simply weigh them down right now. Alayne then watched the armed men start to surround Catelyn, Robb, and Arya. Alayne saw Catelyn turning back to her and calling out, "Sansa!" Alayne saw Robb and the grey-haired man put their hands on Catelyn's shoulders and whisper in her ears. Alayne then saw Catelyn looking back at Rob, his hand quivering and his face wincing in pain from the arrow sticking out his shoulder, and Alayne saw the older redheaded woman shake her head as he spoke. Catelyn then snapped her head and looked straight at her- Alayne saw tears welling up in her eyes… tears that were visible even from where she was standing.

And Alayne felt the same emptiness in her heart as Catelyn must have been feeling. Her feelings were the same as the day when the weapons fired by the Brotherhood ships in orbit fell onto London. Tearing her eyes away from Catelyn, Alayne took off her cloak since it was restricting her movements. She was now simply in her flight suit and Kevlar weaved vest; her plasma weapon holster on her right thigh and the regulation combat knife in its sheath around her left thigh. She reached down and grabbed her plasma gun, checked that it was completely recharged, and then set the weapon to the 'stun' setting.

Suddenly, she felt that eyes were on her. Turning towards the group, the men were all staring at her before she shrugged her shoulders.

"We've been here for too long," Alayne said, "we need to leave now."

Alayne walked towards the group with her hand holding on tight to the gun's grip as she walked past the group to the front where the old man was standing ready.

"No armour?" he said with a look of disapproval on his face, "I don't know if you are really a fool or…" the man with the fish on the chest plate then shrugged, "or a really bad suicidal fool."

"Uncle Brynden," Robb frowned.

'So, Brynden, that's his name,' Alayne thought as she looked back at Robb and then her eyes shifted towards Arya who was staring back at her with her small hands gripping the handle of the thin bladed sword on her hip. Alayne then saw Arya's eyes shift towards the weapon in her hand, and then back towards her eyes.

And Alayne looked away wordlessly. "Where are we heading?" Alayne asked the older man.

"The stables," the man Alayne knew as Brynden said with a gruff voice before continuing that he knew the way there. He then looked over his shoulder saying that Catelyn's brother and his wife, along with their escorts, should be on the Western side of the bridge before they made their way to Riverrun. It was then that Catelyn spoke up and said that the Northerners were heading for Greywater Watch, and that they were going to take back the North. Alayne saw the conflicted expression on Brynden's face as he stared at the older redhead who, once again, reiterated that Winterfell and the North could not fall completely.

"The North must be secured, Uncle," Catelyn said as she approached him while the cover of armoured men split down the middle to let her through, "Robb is the Lord of Winterfell now, he is still the King in the North, and there must always be a Stark in Winterfell. No matter what… I will not fail Ned, and I will not fail Robb." Alayne looked away, she closed her eyes and remembered the exact place she landed the jet and how she should retrace her steps to return to the forest. It was out of the way, on the Western side of the bridge.

Alayne opened her eyes to Brynden placing a hand on Catelyn's cheek, "are you certain, Cat?"

"I am, Uncle," Catelyn said nodding her head while Alayne looked back at Arya. She could see that the girl's body language wasn't showing any fear, but her eyes were the complete opposite. Alayne then glanced at the man behind Arya with the burnt face, his hand on the pommel of the sword on his hip. Alayne glanced up at his eyes and saw that he was staring at her; she could see that he was trying to connect her with the girl they called Sansa. It was the same with many of the other men, Arya, and even Robb. Alayne glanced at them all before she turned to Catelyn who was looking back at her and saying, "Robb keeps reminding me that you are not Sansa, but…"

"If it makes you feel better," Alayne said, "you look just like my mother." Alayne gave her a small smile before looking away and turning to Brynden, "I'll be heading out with you towards the Western side of this castle. There's…"

"No," Catelyn said with fear in her eyes as she rushed forward and placed a hand in Alayne's shoulder, "you cannot. You…"

"I have to agree," Robb said shaking his head while leaning on a larger man, "I don't know why you look like our sister, but you must come with us. It's a danger to be out here in the South, at least while the war in still ongoing."

"Once we've retaken the North, Uncle," Cat said turning back to Brynden, "we'll send aid back to the Riverlands. I promise."

"Riverrun can hold out for another two years with the stores we have locked away," Brynden said nodding his head. The two of them were speaking while Alayne looked back at Robb who had an expression on his face that was pleading her to go with them. She then looked over at Arya who was hesitating on whether to say anything or not.

'She must really not like her sister,' Alayne thought. But she couldn't discount the look of fear on Arya's face mixed with the hesitation to say something.

"I'm going with you," Alayne told Robb before glancing over at Arya who has a look of relief before looking away from Alayne. The Sansa-look-alike then turned to Cat before saying, "I still have to retrieve something I left in the forest on the Western side of the bridge. Your group must keep on riding to this... Greywater Watch place. And I'll follow you."

"But…"

"I'm not your Sansa," Alayne said bluntly before her expression softened, "but it's my obligation to help since my people can't retrieve me for a few more days at the most."

"Your people?" Brynden asked.

"I have proof that I am… different from your Sansa," Alayne said looking at Catelyn, "all the same, your daughter or not, I'll still help you and your people leave this place." Alayne then glanced at Arya, the sister she could have had, "that's a promise." Alayne then looked back at Robb, and then at Catelyn, "but all of you have to ride hard and fast. Get away from here before these guys have a chance to regroup."

"And they will," Brynden said looking at Alayne and then at Cat, "we know the backways to Riverrun, come with us, Cat… all of you." Brynden looked up at the Northerners behind her, "as a larger group, we can fend off…"

"Take Arya with you, Uncle," Robb said. Alayne saw Arya look back at Robb with a pained expression on her face.

"You are not throwing me away, Robb... I…"

"It is for your safety," Robb said looking at his sister, "Riverrun is near impenetrable, go with Uncle Brynden. We will come for you once the North has been retaken, and…"

"I am not leaving you or mother," Arya growled with tears that Alayne could see were welling up in her eyes. She then looked up at the burned man before looking back at Arya who pointed at the man and yelled, "the Hound will protect me."

"The Hound is the Lannister's dog," a man yelled out.

"We're wasting time!" Alayne yelled out, and everyone shut up as they turned towards her, "we're wasting time. We need to get out of here, now."

"Aye," Robb nodded his head before turning to Brynden, "Uncle, the Northerners will head out to Grey Water Watch and…." Robb turned towards the anger etched onto Arya's face before he sighed, "and Arya will come with us."

Alayne then turned towards Cat standing in front of her and said, "I still need to head West. I really have to retrieve something, but I will join you." Alayne then looked over at Brynden, "how long will they take to regroup?"

"Not long."

Alayne nodded her head before repeating herself, "then we need to leave now." She then turned towards Brynden and said, "I don't know how to ride a horse, but I need someone to give me a ride to the forest in the West." Alayne noticed the frown on Brynden's face before he nodded his head. She then thanked him before turning towards Catelyn who nodded back before she was pulled back into the circle of armed men with Arya by her side.

It was then that Alayne turned, prepared to fire her weapon, before the group moved out into the hallway littered by bodies that were still bleeding. Alayne noticed the chest plating of the amours had two bridged towers and what looked like a man on a 'X' shaped cross.

"Traitorous filth," a male voice behind Alayne hissed before she heard the sound of someone spitting. The boots and shoes they were wearing squelched from the group stepping on still wet blood as they moved on until the end of the hallway. Alayne then pointed her weapon away, and peeked out into the adjacent hallway where it was the same thing. More bodies.

Alayne looked back at Brynden and nodded her head before moving into the hallway, her weapon now pointed towards any oncoming target. Their feet continued to squelched against the blood on the floor as they moved on, and the more they moved on, the sounds of fighting and screaming got closer.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Alayne once again lowered the weapon and peeked out into the adjacent hallway, and then almost immediately stepped back and turned towards Brynden.

"5," was all she said before the group took out their swords. The sound of the swords being pulled out reverberated through the silent walls of the hallway and to the five men who were stabbing those Northern-Riverland soldiers who were still alive.

"Go see what's that," a man said as Alayne turned away from the group and looked over at Brynden.

Alayne shook her head while Brynden stayed his hand; the latter finger's gripped around his swords handle. She then readied her weapon to the stun setting with one finger, before she turned into the hallway and fired multiple bolts of blue energy into the hallway. It was an energy weapon versus five armoured men with swords that were running at her in an enclosed space. The last man fell with blue energy crackling on his body before Alayne turned and smirked at Brynden, "the space here is too small. They'll all be coming at me one at a time."

"So, you are a witch then?" Bryden asked as he walked past Alayne before she turned and walked alongside him. As she turned she caught a glimpse of Arya looking up at her from behind the armoured men that surrounded her, Robb, and Catelyn.

"I…."

"As long as my family is protected, that's all I care about for now," Brynden told Alayne as the group cautiously made their way towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. As they walked, Bryden asked if the men she shot were dead. Alayne shook her head before Brynden turned around and signalled some of the people surrounding the three Starks to kill the ones who were just now rendered unconscious. He then turned to Alayne and asked if she was prepared to kill.

"She killed those traitors in the gallery," Robb said, overhearing what Brynden had asked Alayne, "at least I think so."

"They were a bigger threat at the time," Alayne whispered as she crouched down at the top of the stairs looking down the straight path to the lower level where she could already see dead bodies on the ground, "they were the bigger danger since they had the high ground."

"And the ones who attacked later?" Catelyn asked.

"Stunned," Alayne said standing up and looking at her, "they'll wake up in a few hours."

"I'll go and finished them off," one of the men, the one Alayne heard was called the Great Jon growled before he rushed off with three others to finish off the job. And she could have swore she heard the man growl out, "stupid witches."

Alayne then sighed before looking over at Arya who was staring back at her in confusion, "nothing to be nervous about… Arya, is it?"

"I am not nervous," was the reply as Alayne gave her a small smile while the group waited for the rest. After they returned a minute later, the group cautiously walked down the stairs, the sounds of battle now even louder since the entrance Alayne took to sneak into the castle was close by with several fights still raging. Alayne glanced over at the worried Catelyn and then back at Robb who was now leaning onto the one called Dacey. Alayne then looked back at Arya who was staring back at her; despite what the little girl had said, Alayne could see Arya was scared.

Once the Great Jon, his dagger covered in fresh blood, returned with his men, Brynden ordered the Hound and six others led by him down the stairs to kill off any stragglers from the Freys and Boltons who could come in through the entrance. And then when the immediate coast was clear Brynden and his group would call for the others. As he walked down the stairs, the man glanced over at Alayne and told her to watch out for his niece and family. Alayne didn't see this as the right place to argue, so she nodded her head and stepped back as Brynden and his men went down the stairs.

She then glanced at Arya after the Hound passed her. Alayne sensed the giant man looking at her, so she turned her head and stared back at him. And then she arched an eyebrow.

"You look so much like the little bird," he growled before striding off down the stairs. Alayne then glanced over at Robb and then some of the others who were staring at her; her eyes then shifted towards the young Arya. Alayne put her weapon back into her holster before striding towards the wall of men that were in front of Arya and the Starks.

Alayne glanced at Rob, silently saying that she really meant no harm, and he then ordered to let her through. The Tauri officer then reached out for her topmost pocket on the left side, opened it and then took out a small rectangular box that was connected to a thin wire that led to a earpiece… something that the people around her had just noticed. Alayne knew that the device, a subspace radio, had a locator beacon embedded inside the transceiver; it was something she'd need if she was to protect these people from the air for the next few days before she was rescued.

"Arya," Alayne crouched down in front of her with the wired device in her right hand. She saw that Arya was staring at her hand with a suspicious look, and then she looked up and stared into Alayne's eyes. When Arya's eyes went wide open in surprise, it was then that Alayne knew the girl realized she wasn't Sansa. For now, Alayne pushed that thought to the side, instead, she spoke, "are you nervous?"

"No," she said bravely, "and you are not Sansa, are you?"

"Arya…." Catelyn whispered shaking her head.

"Her eyes are coloured different, mother," Arya said shaking her head, "and... and what she just did… can you see Sansa doing that, or…"

"She is Sansa, Arya.. she…" Catelyn then looked towards Robb for support, and all Arya and Alayne saw him do was hold her hand gently squeezing.

Alayne then turned to Arya and whispered, "it's okay to be nervous. I was nervous the first day I killed an enemy soldier." She saw that Arya was about to say something, but Alayne interrupted her, "I need you to do something for me. Something that would take away from your nervousness." Alayne then slowly reached out and placed the ear piece into Arya's ear, and the transceiver into her hand. Arya looked back at her strangely, and so Alayne explained while she helped wrap Arya's fingers around the device, "this is called a transceiver. It's a bit complicated how it works, but all you need to know is that with this, I can know exactly where you are."

"See, witchcraft," a man whispered while the others mummering among themselves. Alayne, however, continued to lock her eyes with Arya.

"This is highly advanced technology, Arya," Alayne whispered, "it can be found nowhere else on this world. So, I need you to hold on to it, I can track you and your family with this." Alayne then tapped the girl's ear, "that thing in your ear, I don't want you to be scared, but you can hear my voice through it later. I mean, I know you can hear me now but after your Uncle takes me where I need to go, you can hear my voice."

"I…" Arya placed a finger into her ear, and it brushed against the plastic.

"There's nothing to be scared about," Alayne whispered before looking down at the device in Arya's hand. Alayne guided Arya's thumb to a protruding button on its side and gently pushed down, "when you want to reply, or say anything… press down and speak, and when you're done, just release. And then, I'll be able to reply."

Alayne stared at Arya's expression of surprise and wondered, 'she could have been my sister. This girl could have been my sister.' The Tau'ri Defence Force officer reassured Arya once again before standing up and smiling at Robb, who looked back at her in surprise.

It was then that Alayne rushed to the front of the group while taking out her plasma weapon as the sounds of metal hitting the stone flooring could be heard from the lower level. "Cat, we have to move, now!" Brynden called out as the Hound walked over to the lower landing and nodded at Alayne who then signalled at everyone to move down the stairs. In the meantime, she got ready her weapon as she walked down the stairs before she, Brynden, and six others left the relative safety of the castle and walked out into the hellish nightmare around them.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

**Alayne.**

The horse was galloping as fast as it could while carrying both Alayne and Ser Brynden, the brother of Catelyn Stark, on its back. Alayne looked back over her shoulder as the horse raced towards the direction its rider indicated, the distance to the forest where she hid her aircraft seeming to be shorter since she wasn't walking on foot. Her surroundings were a blur as she turned her head looked back towards the front and over Bryden's shoulder, the wind causing her hair to flutter behind her as she yelled out, "we're clear. No one's following us!"

"Good!" Brynden yelled holding the reigns to the horse as it began weaving in and out of the trees upon entering the forest. They had finally reached the forest after about twenty minutes riding under total darkness, the only light coming from the various fires that were still burning thanks to the 'celebrations' at the Twins in the distance. Brynden looked over his shoulder at Alayne before looking back in front, "what do you have hidden here?"

"You'll have to see to believe it!" Alayne yelled when suddenly she heard the sounds of yelling behind her. They weren't close, but the voices and the sounds of hooves thundering against the ground were barely audible. Alayne glared back over her shoulder and swore she could see shapes moving in the distance, the tree trunks preventing her from properly looking out into the dark clearing behind her. In addition, the figures were obscured by the darkness that surrounded them as clouds covered the moon. Alayne turned back around and yelled out, "spoke too soon. We could have company."

Brynden nodded his head before saying, "do you recognize any landmarks?"

"Just keep on going this way!" she yelled out while one hand let go off Bryden's shoulder and pointed straight ahead, "I walked straight towards the castle from here. We can't miss it… head for a large clearing… it's the only clearing in the forest!"

Brynden nodded his head before exclaiming, "I know where it is!"

Alayne widened her eyes before ducking and then yelled out, "branch!" The leaves of several low hanging branches only just brushed the top of her head, while Brynden leaned to the left, as the horse continued to gallop at high speed through the forest. All Alayne could do was frown as Brynden laughed, before she yelled out, "watch where you're going!"

It would be a few seconds later that Alayne sat normally behind the knight, her arms tightly around his waist. She was so scared of falling off the horse that she held on like a vice. as she stared through the forest of trees in front of them as the horse weaved in and out past the thick trunks.

The only thoughts going through her mind were that she hoped to arrive at the location of her Arrow within no broken bones from falling off the horse, 'it could stilll happen she thought to herself while holding onto Brynden tightly.

Before long, several minutes later, Alayne looked back over her shoulder again and frowned at the barely visible shapes she though weaving between the trees, 'ten… twenty? Yeah, looks like at least twenty on horseback coming after the two of us. And who knows how may are heading for the others.' Alayne's heart was racing as she recalled everything that happened after the large group of Northerners and Riverlanders surrounding the Starks began heading for the stables so that they could acquire the horses to escape the hell they found themselves in.

 **The Twins, Thirty minutes ago; Alayne.**

It was hell just getting to the stables through all the armoured people who wanted her, the Starks, and the others, dead. There were screams, yells for aid by the injured who Alayne and the group couldn't reach, as well as cries of agony that were suddenly cut off by virtue of an enemy's blade though the chest or the neck. Between the 'thoom thoom' of Alayne firing her plasma weapon, the magnetically shelled bursts of plasma going cleanly through the rough leather or silver coloured armour of the Bolton and Frey soldiers, and swords crossing with each other before being shoved into someone's gut, the Tau'ri officer made sure to keep a look-out on the Starks.

Her job, as well as the job of the group surrounding Catelyn, Robb, and Arya, was to protect them, the tight group moved towards the stables with groups of dead around them; many shot by Alayne as she rapidly fired off her weapon. Soon, once they reached the stables, the group were counting on the Freys and the Bolton soldiers to be distracted by the remaining Northern forces in the Twins who were still fighting.

And in the meantime, the Starks as well as the other northerners were getting on the horses so that they could make their escape.

"Let's go!" the man Alayne recognized as GreatJon yelled out after he and the others got onto the horses. Alayne rushed over to Arya who was seated in front of the woman named Dacey. Alayne told Arya to hold on tight to the radio, and that she would find them.

"It's too complicated to explain how I will find you, but just know that I will," Alayne said as she looked up at Arya who then nodded her head and held on tightly to the body of the radio. Alayne then turned to Catelyn and Robb before telling them to ride as fast as possible. Over the sudden roar of voices, Alayne turned to see even more people from the Houses of Frey and Bolton rushing into the stables with weapons held high. They were met with several of the Northerners and Riverlanders brandishing swords, axes, hammers, and even shovels from the stables; and just like that, the fighting began once again. While some of the Northerners and Riverlanders were keeping the oncoming enemy forces at bay, Catelyn and the others prepared to ride off through the oncoming crowd.

Alayne was pulled onto one of the last horses by Brynden, before they started to force their way towards the exit. Curses spewed by the Frey and Bolton men could be heard as they ran, on foot, after the group galloping away. Through the noise and stench of blood, Alayne heard Robb and Bryden yelling out at any survivors to retreat.

"Leave! Leave the dead and retreat!"

And as many Northerners and Riverlanders retreated with their Liege Lords, away from the Twins were the Freys broke that most revered of traditions in Westeros; the Guest Rights. The sae thought ran through the minds of those galloping away – 'The North Remembers. Winter will come for Houses Frey and Bolton.'

It wasn't too long after the escape that Alayne saw Catelyn meet with another man with shaggy hair and a crying woman next to him on another horse. Alayne was too far away to hear what was being said, but she didn't miss the look of sadness directed at her from Catelyn and Robb after Bynden's horse pulled up next to the Starks; Catelyn was seated in front of the one known as the GreatJon, an unsteady Robb was seated in front of another male, and the still unconscious Roose Bolton was tied to Dacey Mormont. Last of all, Arya was seated in front of the one known as the Hound – the little girl holding tightly onto the subspace transceiver that Alayne had given her earlier.

No words were said between them; all Alayne could do was silently nod her head before she and Brynden galloped away towards the forest. Alayne remembered looking back, only to see the group of Starks and the Northerners riding off in one direction while the Riverlanders rode off in another direction.

 **Now.**

That was at least thirty minutes ago, and now Alayne was heading towards the clearing where her Sparrow was located. However, where she once thought they were free from pursuers, Alayne discovered they were indeed not alone… they were being pursued by what seemed to be, at the very least, twenty people on horseback. Alayne still didn't know why they were being pursued – she didn't know the reasoning behind this war, but felt that with the possibility of her being rescued by the Tau'ri very soon, the reasoning didn't matter. By right, she wasn't supposed to interfere, but there were people who looked just like her dead mother and brother. And it was because of that very reason that she couldn't stand by watching them die.

She had to do something, no matter how small.

"By the Gods, what the f…" Brynden stopped talking, his eyes wide open in surprise at the sight of the strange object gleaming under the light of the moon reflecting of its metallic skin. It was seconds ago that the horse carrying the two of them broke into the clearing and made its way towards the strange object several meters away. Alayne looked over his shoulder at the Sparrow and smiled, she was now mentally calculating the distance between the people chasing the two of them and the amount of time she had to get off the horse, input her code so that the canopy would open and she would get into the cockpit. Once she got into the plane, she could then arm the weapons and target the incoming enemy forces.

While she was calculating, Alayne chuckled before pointing at the Sparrow, "that's what I came to get. I told you I'm not from around here." The horse soon came to a stop upon reaching one side of the strange object.

Honestly, Brynden didn't know what to make of the strange looking object. He could tell the skin was metallic and that it had a strange head, as well as what looked to be wings. He didn't see any scales, 'so not a dragon', and he didn't see any feathers, 'so not a bird'.

"What is it?" Brynden whispered as he reached out with his dark leather gloved hand as Alayne jumped off the back of the horse, her feet touching the ground a second later. Once she was back on the ground, Alayne rushed to the panel near the nose of the plane while an audible 'tang' told Alayne that Bryden placed his metallic gloves on the skin of the Sparrow. Alayne then pushed the panel inwards before watching it slide away. Brynden watched in stunned silence as the number pad within the recess lit up before Alayne pressed down on the buttons.

"What is that?" Brynden asked as Alayne finished inputting a code before stepping back as the panel slid back, closing the recess, and then another panel opened up to extend a ladder.

"I just input a Security key," Alayne said as she placed her foot on the first rung of the ladder just as the canopy began opening, the lights along the inside of the cockpit turning on as Bryden's horse neighed while taking several steps away as the Knight stared in silent amazement, which was slightly mixed with a little fear, at what he was seeing. However, he didn't have time to gawk as a woman who looked so much like his niece reached into the opened 'head' of the object, placed a helm over her head before stepping into the metallic object.

Instead, Brynden turned towards the sounds of yelling men and the thuds of hooves hitting the hard ground coming his way. He took out his sword as his horse backed away while the Sparrow's canopy closed. He glanced at Alayne through the transparent canopy, at the now dimly lit cockpit as she seemed to reached for something to her left and then in front of her. Brynden didn't know what she was doing, but he couldn't wonder about it as he turned his gaze back to the enemy.

Brynden's blade flashed under the moon light as he held it up and pointed the pointed end towards the enemy while his other hand held tight onto the reigns. Brynden was about ready to charge the riders coming towards him and the strange object when, all of a sudden, everyone stopped at the sound of a roar.

The horses panicked as they reared back, even Brynden was doing everything he could to hold on to the reigns as his horse moved sideways away from the Sparrow in panic. In the meantime, the Knight turned his head towards the sound of the roar. His mouth hung open like the fish on his chest piece as he watched the object retract the metallic legs attached to wheels back into it's metallic body. The most amazing thing though wasn't that the legs were moving up into the object with a 'whirrr' sound.

No. What was amazing was the fact the object was floating in the air without any form of outside help. Brynden even looked over at the metallic wings as his horse took several steps back, and they were not flapping. The more he moved away from the Sparrow though, the more he noticed the blue hued glow reflecting down onto the green glass from the rear of the object.

'What the fuck?' he thought to himself as the object rose into the air, 'how is it being lifted without flapping any wings? How… what is this?" However, the shock of the Sparrow suddenly stopping mid-air faded just when the Frey and Bolton forces were running towards them.

Some were yelling out "For the Twins" while others were yelling out "for the North", as well as "our knives are sharp!" Brynden snarled at the men; all of whom were traitors in his eyes. Particularly the Northmen who were represented by the Boltons.

'All traitors,' Brynden thought as he steeled himself for the coming battle. He glanced at the Sparrow next to him, and wondered what Alayne meant by the object floating in the air being a weapon of war. It didn't look threatening… just awe inspiring in that it was floating in the air.

He hear the 'whizz' of arrows that went past him before pulling back on the reigns, causing the horse to back away slightly. He was about to pull away from the Sparrow when suddenly there were bright flashes of light – orange bursts that were being expelled from points underneath the floating object. Brynden heard the sickening yells of men screaming in pain as the bursts of light made contact with several of the riders. He smelt burnt flesh mixed with melted metal as he watched the ground beneath the riders explode upwards – the dirt and grass kicked up into the air as the orange bursts continuously sliced through more and more riders. Even among the ones who were retreating, whose swords, bows and arrows were thrown to the ground in fear, were not spared.

He watched many of the men fall off their horses; the animals kept on running without their masters.

And then, once all twenty were either dead or begging to die on the grass covered ground, did the firing stop. Brynden, his eyes wide open in shock of what he had just seen turned towards the glass covered canopy and saw the woman who had looked so much like his niece, staring out at the dead. Her head was covered by the helm, and her face blocked by a shiny black faceplate where he could glimpse only the reflection of lights from within the 'head' of the object.

'Who are you? Really?' Brynden watched the woman turn her head and nod at him before a disembodied voice… one that sounded just like Alayne, spoke out of thin air.

"The area's clear, Brynden. I'll watch over the others as much as I can, for as long as I can," Alayne spoke before she waved at Bryden, who gave a nervous wave back. He watched as the object lifted higher and higher off the ground before the rear of the object glowed a brighter blue hue. And then, it shot forward with a slight roar. Brynden watched as it took off into the air before he looked back down at the scorched land meters in front of him.

He rode towards the smoking area as he placed his sword back its scabbard. Before long, he looked down at the burnt bodies of men and horses. Shaking his head, the man tried to process what he was seeing before he took off. He didn't want to be in the area for too long in case there were more reinforcements… he had to get back to Riverrun.

'Who are you, really?' that was the repeated thought going through his mind as he rode away from the charred remains of the men who betrayed his family, 'and will you not help us win this war?'

 **Arya**

"They are closing in behind us," a voice yelled out. Arya didn't know how long it had been since they escaped The Twins. All she knew was that she had to hold on tight to the object in her hand and make sure that the thing stuffed into her ear remained in her ear. Her heart, despite her bravado in wanting to kill as many people as possible, was racing as fast as her horse was galloping.

She and the Hound were riding hard and fast alongside the Greatjon and Catelyn, along with three other riders who were guarding them. Given Robb's condition, he was riding slightly slower behind them; the King in the North was surrounded by a circle of riders so that any enemy on their tail would have a difficult time getting to him.

And it wasn't until only a few minutes ago that they had heard, and then seen, at least fifty riders coming after them.

"Mother, Arya!" Robb yelled from the back, "leave us! Get out of here!"

"No! I will not leave you," Catelyn looked back over her shoulder as her horse continued galloping away. She then turned to the Hound, "take my daughter to the Neck, and I will make sure you are handsomely rewarded."

The Hound huffed just before he was about to kick the sides of his horse to get it to gallop faster.

"Hound! Greatjon! This is an order from your King… get them out of here and into the Neck. Seek out Lord Howland Reed for temporary shelter! Go.."

"Bzzzzz," Arya yelped at the sound from the object in her ear before a disembodied female voice said, "Arya, can you hear me?"

"Mother! Robb! That Alayne woman… the one who looks like Sansa is speaking to me!" Arya yelled out in amazement. A second later, even before turning towards her mother, Arya could feel all eyes on her as the horses continued to gallop. She looked sideways towards Catelyn, and then back at the object in her small hands. She pressed the button – the one that Alayne told her to press so that she could send a message – before softly, and with a tinge of scepticism, saying, "yes, I… can hear you."

Now Arya felt as if she was an insane girl talking into thin air. All eyes were on her as the group continued on while the enemy was getting closer and closer.

"I have you," Alayne's voice whispered in Arya's ear.

"Where are you?" Arya yelled out as everyone, including the Hound, looked at each other in disbelief.

"Look up," came the voice. Arya looked up and saw the stars over the pathway, with wide fields of grass on either side, they were taking to get them to the Neck and into safety. Staring up at the sky, Arya was about to ask what Alayne meant by 'look up' when she suddenly saw what looked like a blinking star flying towards them. Arya squinted her eyes at the blinking white and red lights that was coming towards them before she gasped as the object got closer and the moonlight reflected off its surface.

"There… up there!" Arya yelled up, a finger stretched out and up towards the sky.

No one knew what to make of it. It wasn't a dragon, or a bird. It was just an object that flew over them with a slight roar.

"Go on, Arya! Tell everyone to keep on going!" Alayne exclaimed in Arya's ear.

"We have to go!" Arya yelled as she stared at the object going up into the air. They saw the blue hued lights at the rear of the object glow brightly before making a turn and then flying away.

"Arya, all of you have to go! This close and your horses will be scared. Go! Move!"

"We have to go… Alayne said the horses will be scared of what will happen next."

With the entire group having stopped, everyone looked at Arya before looking back at the object that had gone far out before making coming back towards them.

"Move it, soldier!" Alayne yelled out when her monitors showed the Starks and their group were too close to the combined forces of the Freys and the Boltons who were staring up at the sky in both awe and fear, "move!"

"We have to go!" Arya yelled out. That yell brought everyone out of the shock they were experiencing, and the whole group started to take off towards the Neck just as the Sparrow buzzed over the enemy. Robb looked over his shoulder as the horses being ridden by the Freys and Bolton's were panicking. His eyes then shifted up towards the object, which was now getting further away the more he and the Northmen were riding away from the distracted enemy forces.

"Arya, ask your brother if anything else needs to be done to keep the Freys and Boltons away from you and your people."

Arya relayed that question, yelling it over her shoulder to Robb who jokingly said it would help if the bridge at the Twins could be destroyed. It would harm any fight back the North could muster, but it would make it much harder for the Lannisters to strike back against the North by coming to the aid of the Boltons. Everyone chuckled as Arya, having relayed what Rob said back to Alayne, continued to say that her brother was only joking.

"What is that thing? How does it fly? What does it do?" the curious Arya continued to ask.

"I'll tell you one day," Alayne said just before Arya noticed the reflection of bright yellow lights on the grass around them, and then the ground trembled. Everyone stopped riding once again and turned, only to see more orange lights being fired at the enemy from the object as it hovered in the air. Arya, the Hound, Catelyn, and Robb… as well as the others… watched in silent horror as the enemy forces were cut down.

Where there was once the screams of the men from the Freys and Boltons, now there was silence as the object in the air stopped firing. Just charred and smoking remains, and the stench of burnt meat hung in the air, as the object flew off into the distance towards the direction of the Twins.

"What the…" The Hound whispered just before everyone saw a huge explosion, followed by the sound of a loud boom, in the distance where the bridge that made up the Twins was located. Now, all there was in place of the bridge was a tower of fire that soon dissipated to leave a column of dark smoke rising into the sky above. And the bridge itself was destroyed - the remaining Freys and Boltons would see the scale of the destruction the next morning.

For now though, Arya stared in awe as the object then took off into the sky and rose higher and higher until it couldn't be seen by the naked eye.

"You and your people should be in the clear, Arya," Alayne's voice said over the earpiece. No one will be coming after you guys, at least for now. I'll be in low orbit of your world and…"

"I don't understand…" Arya said as she looked up at the stars in the night sky, her eyes trying to pick out Alayne in her flying object.

"I will keep watch on you and your people until my own people come to rescue me," Alayne said over the earpiece, "if I see anything, I will let you know. But for now, ride on home."

"I… I understand," Arya whispered before she relayed Alayne's message to the others. After they nodded their heads, disbelief and wonderment etched on their faces, and began galloping off towards the Neck once again, Arya pressed down on the button and said, "will you say farewell before you are rescued?"

"I will," was the reply as the group of Northerners rushed off for the three day journey to the Neck. All the while, many of them, Arya in particular, looked up at the night sky for the object and the woman who saved their lives.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

**Robb**

Robb continued to be stunned at the still-fresh memory of what happened a mere ten minutes ago as he and the other Northmen continued on their way away from the Twins and towards the Neck. He was doing everything in his power to ignore the arrow shaft that was sticking out from the left side of his shoulder, 'at least there's no pain.'

Meanwhile, the stench of burning stone and flesh still wafted in the air and into their nostrils no matter how far their horses galloped away from the column of smoke and the distant yells coming from the Twins. All of them were silent as the image of the flying object firing oval shaped and orange coloured things were etched into their minds. They still remembered the group of Frey and Bolton men coming at them with axes, swords, and spears before they were screaming in pain as they were brought down onto the burnt ground. The Northmen had seen the ground kicked up into the air from what looked like small bursts of fire erupting after the orange objects hit the ground, and when the dirt and dust settled, the bodies of the enemy lay dead before the flying object rushed for the twins.

And Robb could tell that everyone was uneasy – true they were thankful for their lives being saved - but they were still uneasy. And that feeling of uneasiness was exasperated by the bright glow behind them in the distance, towards the directions of the Twins, where there was a bright pillar of flame moments ago. Back then, everyone had their eyes wide open in shock – Robb even heard the Hound whisper something about the Blackwater – before there was the sound of a 'boom'. It ripped through the air as the towering pillar of flame gave way to dark smoke going up into the air.

Back then, Robb then turned his head towards a stunned Arya who was stull holding onto the device given to her by Alayne, someone who looked just like Sansa, his younger sister. A woman who said that he and Catelyn looked like her own mother and brother. A woman claiming to be from another place that was far away.

"Robb, Alayne said the bridge is destroyed," Arya spoke, "she said she will watch over us until… until her people come for her."

Robb heard whispers of "witchcraft" and "magic" from some of his bannermen while nodding his head at Arya and then looking over at the Twins. There was still flickering orange and red light from the distance as plumes of dark smoke rose high into the air.

"Give… give her my thanks… our thanks…" Robb whispered as he stared at the pillar of black smoke… the outline still visible under the dark night sky where wisps of cloud barely covered the half-moon. While Arya relayed Robb's thanks to Alayne, as well as her own amazement at what happened, Robb whispered, "let's go North and take back our homes from the Iron-born."

The other bannermen cheered as Robb, being supported by Lord Cerwyn behind him, turned his horse. They then started making their way towards the Neck while Alayne was flying high above them, the dark sky above hiding her aircraft from the periodic glances of the Northmen and women.

And now, ten minutes later, Robb began to have chills running up and down his spine as his horse galloped at an equal pace to the rest of the group of about nine hundred men, with about half slightly injured from the battle at the Twins. No one made any more sounds or small talk, they simply continued onwards in the direction of the Neck. The young King in the North, only eighteen namedays, was trying to keep as calm as he possibly could, but the series of recent incidents one after another was making it very difficult to keep as calm as possible.

First there was the wedding at the Twins – it was supposed to be an occasion to apologize and to rebuild an alliance between the Frey's, the Tully's, and the North through marriage. A part of him had felt sorry for his Uncle Edmure marrying one of the Frey girls – many of them either ugly or fat – at least until they met Roslin Frey.

'Mother said her beauty is probably due to the Rosby blood in her,' thought Robb to himself. Robb knew that Edmure marrying into the Freys would result in an influx of Frey men for his Northern and Riverlands army. It was an army that was supposed to help him regain control of the North, especially Winterfell, from the Ironborn.

Instead, what Robb experienced was a gross betrayal by his own Northern bannerman – Roose Bolton; the breaking of guest rights by the Freys, and then came the discovery of a woman who looked like an older version of his younger sister Sansa. This was a woman who claimed to be from another world, a woman who saved the lives of his remaining family and allies, a woman who recently saved them once again from a large group of Frey and Boltons through the use of an awe-inspiring flying object.

'I'm not from around here, that's what she told us,' Robb thought as he recalled what the red haired woman, the one Arya referred to as Alayne, had said earlier, 'she said she had a weapon hidden away…' Robb looked up at the night sky, his eyes searching for the object in the dark, 'is she somewhere up there? Can she not help us? If we are able to retrieve Sansa, if we can ask this Alayne to fight for us using her… whatever that thing is… to wipe out the Lannisters… then we can win.'

Looking back down and forwards, Robb suddenly felt as if he was slipping away from his body. He felt his heart race while a stinging pain formed around the area of the arrow. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker as he held her head forward – something that was getting hard to do thanks to his surroundings starting to twist and turn. He then looked down and eyed the blurred lines of the arrow shaft.

Robb blinked to clear his vision, but he felt his vision continue to blur while the stinging sensation increased. It would be a few seconds later that the stinging sensation radiated towards his chest and was getting sharper, so much so that he gasped before whispering to the man holding him steady, "Lord… Lord Cerwyn." Before he could continue, Robb felt his eyelids come down and he was tilting towards the right. Robb then then heard a male voice yell out his name whilst he felt himself falling. He then heard distant voices… both male and female voices… yell out for him.

"Robb!"

"Your Grace!"

"Lady Catelyn, it's the King!"

"Robb!"

And then Robb heard no more.

 **Alayne.**

Alayne levelled off her Sparrow upon reaching forty thousand feet into the air. She knew that this was the approximate altitude where she regained control of her Sparrow hours ago after encountering the strange barrier. She suspected that there would a risk of the Sparrow losing power again if she went any higher… and it would result in the loss of the signal from the subspace radio in Arya's hands.

'I got back control of the Sparrow after passing the Stratosphere,' she thought to herself as she looked up through the glass canopy at the stars above, 'it's possible I'll lose power again if I continue any higher.' Looking back down and towards the front of the cockpit, she mentally told herself that she could be wrong. However, there was no need to experiment leaving the planet's atmosphere for now, 'Arya and her people are still too close to enemy territory. Their enemies would be too busy to send more people after them.'

Alayne hoped that the more powerful scanners on the Aurora would be able to penetrate the barrier that seemed to surround the planet. She reached towards a button and pressed it down to begin scanning for the familiar metallic and residual energy signature of a Stargate. As the Sparrow began sensor sweeps, her thoughts went back to her cousin and the people who looked like her dead mother and brother.

'I can ask Robbie to wait for me when he and the Aurora come to rescue me. Anyway, once Catelyn, Robb, and Arya,' a smile formed on Alayne's face as she imagined having a sister who looked just like Arya, 'reach this place they call the Neck, then I can try getting into orbit.'

Alayne then reached out towards another button while her Sparrow flew through the air. She pressed the button before leaning back on her seat and read the results of the diagnostics.

'Weapons are all green… well, two missiles have been used and I have ten more,' she thought to herself, 'emergency naquadah generators are green, computer systems are green, engines are green, fuel cells are green, comms are green, primary survival gear has been opened and used, auxiliary survival gear is still unused and available, emergency medical supplies are unused and available.'

She then glanced at her scanners showing that Arya and her group were on the move before her eyes returned to the diagnostic results, 'umm… some kind of electromagnetic screen covering the planet, the power levels for this kind of a screen that knocks out power and prevents orbital scans must have some kind of an extremely powerful source,' Alayne thought as she shifted her eyes to another screen that showed her the scans taken earlier just after the power returned after she was in the stratosphere, 'but there was no sign of a power source. Even when I regained control, there's not even a small sign of a power source… any power source.' She then shook her head before thinking that the Aurora would be able to get a better scan of the planet, 'maybe Robbie will find a power source.'

Alayne shifted her eyes towards the center console as more diagnostic text floated on the screen confirming that no part of the aircraft's computer systems were damaged because of the sudden power surge and the resulting reboot.

With her hands on the controls, Alayne slowed the thrusters down to cruising speed as she released the breath she only just realized she was holding. Her mind was occupied with the faces of people she thought she would never see again – the faces of her mother and brother, as well as the face of a possible sister. No, Alayne was sure that Arya would have looked like the baby Becka would have had if the latter didn't miscarry.

'Arya,' Alayne thought to herself as the Sparrow continued on at a steady speed, 'Catelyn and Robb.' Her face stilled at the thought of Catelyn and Robb. At the thought of the two who looked like her mother and brother; memories that haunted Alayne for years, memories that she had pushed to the back of her mind, since the Brotherhood attack on Earth returned with a vengeance.

Alayne remembered the greyish clouds in the sky that day in Ashwell near their family estate; she remembered the chill in the air as she and her family got out of the car that picked them up. It was in Ashwell that the family was gathered in the aftermath of the attack before being driven to the local mortuary where the funeral would be held.

As the Sparrow flew in the air over the Riverlands, Alayne recalled entering the hall where there were rows of empty chairs, a lectern in one end of the room, and then the two caskets which were closed. Next to each casket were large pictures of Becka and John Collins smiling back at their family. Their bodies were so badly mangled and burned that it was recommended to hold a closed casket ceremony with the pictures being the representation of how the two of them should be remembered.

Alayne tightened her grip on the controls of the Sparrow as she recalled walking towards the two caskets with her father, Robbie, and her Aunt Karla. She barely felt Robbie's hand on her back while her left hand held tightly to her father's right hand. Alayne didn't even glance at her crying Aunt who was holding on to her older brother's arms; no, Alayne's eyes were focused the two caskets through the tears that flooded her eyes and were streaming down her cheeks.

"Alayne!"

Alayne's thoughts were brought back to the present day upon hearing Arya's panicked voice yelling in her ear. Her heart racing at the memory, Alayne spoke into the microphone in her helmet with urgency in her voice, "Arya? What's going on? Is an enemy on your…"

"It's Robb! He fell… he fell of his horse! Something is wrong!"

Alayne was breathing hard now as she remembered Robbie squeezing her shoulder before she released a sob while placing a hand on the oak casket. She remembered bringing a hand to cover her mouth as more tears streamed down her cheeks while her father held her other hand tight as if he was afraid to let her go.

And it was the same when she and her father went to Becka's casket while Karla and Robbie, now holding his mother's hand, said a quiet prayer over John's casket. It was then that Arya's voice brought her back to the present once again.

"Alayne! Help!"

Shaking her head while pushing her own memories to one side, Alayne exclaimed, "I'm on the way!" She then banked the Sparrow to port and went into a steep dive before levelling off, "is he breathing?!" There was no answer. 'Come on, breathe!' Alayne thought to herself as she accelerated – the inertial dampeners doing their job in not letting her feel the G-forces, 'the arrow must have pierced something…. Damn it!'

"Arya!" Alayne barked as she stared at the screen which was showing her how far she was from the Northmen, specifically the signal emanating from the subspace radio that she handed to Arya, "Arya! I'm on the way! Is he breathing?"

Still no answer.

Alayne bit her lower lip in worry as she accelerated.

'50 kilometers more before I reach them!' she thought to herself, "Arya, if you can hear me, I'm close. I'm on the way." She leaned forward and pressed a few buttons. Before long there was a listing of the emergency supplies – medical, offensive, and defensive supplies - underneath her seat. Supplies that were designed to be ejected along with the chair in the event of a catastrophic emergency.

She scanned through the lines of text before her eyes stopped on the items listed under 'emergency medical supplies' – three medical hybrid nanite pens, a small blood oxygen meter, a miniature hybrid heart monitor and defibrillator, and an oxygen canister – along with several other medicines and supplies. These were all contained in a backpack encased within a trinium lined case just underneath the ejection seat.

With the Brotherhood surging in power among the former Goa'uld and Ori enslaved worlds through the use their yet-to-be identified technology, Homeword Command ordered that all F-502 Sparrows, and all subsequent models, have the updated 'emergency medical supply' kits. In the event of any ejection, the medical kit and another case containing emergency offensive and defensive supplies would accompany the pilot down to the ground. It was hoped that any pilot who ejects would be able to use the supplies, along with the primary recon supplies, to support themselves before being rescued.

And now, Alayne needed to use the medical supplies to save someone who looked just like her dead brother.

'You are not dying, John, not again,' Alayne thought as she neared the group of Northerners, the face of her brother now in her mind while she recalled Robb being shot with an arrow back at the Twins, 'not again.' As she continued onwards, the landscape blurring around her, Alayne disabled the ejection mechanism.

As the Sparrow shot ahead over trees and grass, Alayne's mind was already going through what she needed to do, 'land the Sparrow, dismantle the connectors on the seat bottom, move it out of the way, grab the medical kit, get out, and then use the scanner on Robb so that the pen can program the nanites to repair any injuries.' She took a deep breath, 'the nanites will repair any internal injuries; the nanites, that's the key component. That will have to work on Robb… please, they have to work.'

With a look of concern on her face, Alayne breathed in and out very deeply while nearing Arya's location, 'Come on! Come on!'

 **Arya**

Arya was panting as she kneeled next to Robb laying on the grass… the latter gasping for breath. He was being cradled by a tearful Catelyn while the other Northerners were standing around helplessly – a few even said that they would travel back to the Twins, which was in chaos, and steal their Maester so that he could help Robb. Arya heard others saying that they needed to carry Robb and then continue towards the Neck – they were just hoping that Robb would live that long. Arya wanted to tell them all to shut up, she wanted to yell out that Robb would be fine. She looked over at Catelyn and could see her mother's cheeks stained with tears.

Even Arya's own tears were staring to blur her vision of her mother and Brother. She could make out the blurred outline of her brother gaping like a fish as he struggled for breath.

"Robb!" she exclaimed while holding onto his gloved left hand. Her eyes switched from his wide eyes and panicked expression, to the hand she was holding, to the tearful Catelyn who was whispering with a cracked voice.

"My boy, my boy," Lady Stark said as she leaned forward and placed her forehead against Robb's, "Don't go! Please, don't go."

Arya looked towards the sky. She had already called for Alayne, and was about to once again call for her when she couldn't feel the object that had been placed in her ear; it was missing. She turned her head while bringing a finger to her ear to confirm that the object was missing… and it was, much to her shock… and looked past the legs in leather coverings that surrounded them. However, in the darkness she was unable to make out where she could have dropped it after she got off the horse she was on, her body slipping from the Hound's grasp after Robb fell to the hard ground with a THUD.

'Help, Alayne,' Arya sobbed as she turned back towards Robb. She kept on mentally telling herself that they didn't have a Maester with them, and there was no way they had the time to find a Maester given the urgency in leaving the Twins. Arya understood the need to leave as quickly as possible, but a part of her blamed herself for what was happening.

She turned her head towards the Hound who stopped next to her… and then looked up to his scarred face. He had his lips pressed together, his hand on the pommel of his sword, before Arya looked away and towards her brother.

It was then that everything seemed to crash around her; she was about to lose her brother.

"Robb!" Arya yelled out when she saw that he was starting to close his eyes while wheezing sounds could be heard escaping, "Robb!"

"He will not have long," the Hound said as he glared at Catelyn and then at Robb. Arya looked over at him, his hand was already around the handle, "I can make it easy for him…"

"No!" Arya yelled out at the Hound when she noticed the steel of his sword. She guessed that the others nearer to them must have seen the Hound begin pulling out his sword because there were sounds of steel being drawn all around them. Some, such as Dacey Mormont, was by the side of the Hound just as quickly with her sword at his throat.

"You will not harm the King," Dacey growled just as several other men surrounded the Hound with swords at the ready.

The Hound eyed them all and then growled. Arya could sense that he wanted to fight… that he would kill all those who surrounded him before he died.

"He's alive!" Arya yelled out while Catelyn was cradling her oldest son; the older redhead just looking down at his face as his breathing got shallower and shallower.

Arya heard the Hound huff before he stared her down and said, "he's in pain. He is alive but in pain. Would you see him suffer, or would you see him…" Before the Hound could finish saying that he could bring Robb peace by quickly killing him, Arya screamed out loud.

"Alayne's coming! I told her what happened!"

"Do you see her now?" the Hound replied.

"She…"

Then suddenly, just as it was night all around them, their world turned as bright as day; at least their immediate area. Arya, as well as the rest of the Northerners, turned their heads and watched both in both awe and fear as bright white lights shone down on them from the object in air before it made a sharp turn behind Arya with the lights constantly on them.

Arya covered her eyes, as did the others, so she was unable to make out the outline of the object. She turned around towards Catelyn while still remaining on her knees with the Northerners and the Hound standing alongside her were using their arms to block away the harsh light. Arya glanced at Catelyn to see that she was squinting her eyes while one arm blocked the harsh light and the other hand held tight onto Robb's gloved hand. Arya looked back towards the lights which had now dimmed.

She then heard a hiss, followed by other metallic screeches and sounds. It would be a moment later that a voice reached her ears.

"Out of the way!"

Arya heard whispers around her from the other Northerners with the words "move" or "witch" or "magic" being prevalent.

She heard the Hound whisper in awe and fear, "fuck me."

Arya heard the voice yell out again before she responded at the top of her lungs, "Alayne!"

"Arya!" was the response.

Where her eyesight was filled with lights flashing when she blinked, Arya could slowly begin to see the Northerners and the Hound moving to the side to give way to Alayne. Arya watched Alayne getting down on both knees next to her; she could hear Alayne panting while a sob escaped from Catelyn's lips before the former reached down and placed two fingers on the left side of Robb's throat.

Arya had so many questions in her head; all of which had to be pushed away for a later time. She wanted to beg Alayne to save her brother, she wanted to say that she didn't want to lose any more of her family.

"Pulse is weak… really weak," Arya heard Alayne whisper. Arya wanted to ask how she knew that fact, but decided to hold off questions. In the meantime, Alayne pulled her hand back and said that everyone needed to get back; that she, Robb, Arya, and Catelyn needed some room.

No one moved. Arya was frozen, afraid to let go of Robb's hand – afraid that if she did then her brother would die. Arya looked up at her mother who had a look of worry on her face; it was the same look she knew was reflected on her own face.

Arya turned her head to see Alayne looking down at Robb. Alayne then looked up at the others around them before she sighed and said, "here goes."

Silently, Arya watched Alayne as the latter took off a black-grey pack on her back before placing it on her side. Arya then heard gasping sounds coming from Robb before turning her head towards Catelyn who was sobbing now as many of the other Northerners stood helplessly. Arya didn't know what to do except for holding Robb's hand so that her older brother didn't think he was alone.

"When I give the order, I need someone to pull the arrow straight out of his body," Alayne said after opening the pack; Arya could see it was made of some cloth that had yellow lining around the edges that reflected the lights behind her. Thanks to the dim lights, which cast shadows all around the fairly large group, Arya saw Alayne taking out a cylinder shaped device; it was all black, even in the dim light. The object was wider on one end while the other end was slightly narrower. Arya thought the object to be the length of Alayne's hand from forefinger to the wrist.

Upon realizing that Alayne asked for the arrow to be pulled out, Arya stared stunned at her before saying, "you said that it would be dangerous to pull out the arrow."

"It still is," Alayne said as Arya watched her twist the wider end of the object in her hand before she held it out towards Robb, "I didn't think he'd be in danger… I thought he would be alright until you reached where you needed to go. Then, when you reached your destination, you could have had someone take the arrow out of him."

Alayne finished speaking before Arya watched in awe, while many of the others stepped away in silent fear, as beams of light criss-crossed Robb's right arm, chest and abdomen. The lights were coming out of the wider end of the object… the end being held out towards Robb's unmoving body.

"Riding on the horse must have moved the arrow head, maybe it cut something important," Arya watched in stunned silence as Alayne brought the object in her hand down to Robb's sides. The lights criss-crossed the left side of his abdomen and chest, specifically near where the arrow impacted him. At the same time, Arya saw Alayne performing circular motions as she slowly moved the object over his body.

And then Robb stopped breathing.

Arya felt Robb's hand go limp in her own hand just as Catelyn cried out telling him not to die. Arya was about to call out to Alayne to do something, anything. She saw Alayne twist the middle section of the object before turning it around in her hand and leaning forward.

"I need someone to pull the arrow out, there's only a few minutes before we lose him for good," Alayne said. Arya could tell there was a crack in her voice, followed by an intensity in her eyes as she looked up at the people around her, "I need someone to put this damn thing out so that there is a chance he could be saved. Now!"

"Lord Umber," Arya looked up at the giant man standing close to Catelyn. She remembered from his visits to Winterfell – a boisterous man who looked so subdued right now. She didn't want to speak to the Hound, especially since he tried to kill her brother… who knew what he would do when given the chance now.

Arya then looked back towards her mother who was sobbing as she looked down at Robb. She then looked back up, mentally telling herself that she needed to be brave now, and said, "pull out the arrow."

Lord Umber – the GreatJohn – rushed round the group before going down on one knee next to Arya. He then grabbed the arrow shaft and stared at Alayne who was pulling up the sleeve covering Robb's right arm. She then pressed the narrower end of the object against the skin of his wrist before looking up at the GreatJohn.

"Now," Alayne said as she pressed the narrow end of the tube into Robb's wrist. Arya heard a soft 'hiss' sound from the tube before there was a sickening 'squelch' sound. The second sound – the arrow being forcefully removed from Robb's side – was enough to get Catelyn out of her reverie before turning her head towards Arya.

The both of them had tears still streaming down their cheeks. Arya then looked down at Robb's body while the GreatJohn threw aside the bloody arrow onto the green grass. What remained of the Northern host was holding its breath; even so Arya heard whispers – that there were a few Northerners prepared to grab Alayne and the Hound so that they could be executed for killing the King..

"Come on," Arya heard Alayne whisper next to her while staring at Robb's body, "five, four…" Arya turned her head towards Alayne who continued staring at Robb, "three, two…"

Suddenly Robb gasped as he arched his back and snapped his eyes open. The other Northerners were mumbling among themselves now while Arya snapped her head back towards her brother who tightened his grip on her hand.

"Robb!" Arya and Catelyn both yelled out while Robb was panting before his face scrunched in pain, "Robb!"

"How?" many in the group asked in astonishment.

"What the fuck?" the Hound whispered while Dacey and a few others that had surrounded him earlier looked on in fear as a dead man was revived. Others yelled out, "Witchcraft, it has to be witchcraft!"

"Take it easy, calm down," Alayne ignored the voices around her while placing a hand on Robb's chest. The young King in the North stared at Alayne, Arya, and then at an amazed Catelyn for a few seconds before falling unconscious. Arya looked towards the woman who looked so much like an older version of her sister, and had multitudes of questions that were just ready to be asked. She parted her lips but she couldn't say anything; instead Alayne continued, "you're going to be alright."

Arya saw Alayne turning her head towards her, and then then back to Catelyn who was staring at Alayne with an expression of shock.

"He was dead," Arya said, her voice low as she wiped the tears off her cheeks with her other hand.

"It's a little complicated to explain right now," Alayne replied with a low voice, "for now, his bleeding has stopped…" Arya followed Alayne's eyes towards the ripped-up flesh caused by pulling out the arrow. Where it once was bleeding profusely, now there was none of the warm red liquid flowing out of Robb's body. Arya then looked back towards Alayne who continued, "don't move him until morning. Even then he shouldn't be on a horse… actually he shouldn't even be travelling but we can't stay here for too long."

Alayne then looked towards the direction of the Twins, "I'm sure it's going to be chaotic over there but I'm sure they'll send someone in this direction when everything's calmed down." She then reached into her open pack and took out something Arya and the others couldn't make out.

"What is that?" Arya asked as Alayne tore the rectangular object, which made a sound of paper being torn, before reaching into the torn package. Arya watched Alayne pull out what looked like a rectangular piece of cloth while placing the torn package into the pack.

Alayne pointed at the hole where the arrow used to be and said, "pull up his tunic… quickly." She turned to Arya and then to Catelyn, "the wound is now exposed. There's a higher chance of him being infected…" she held out the cloth in her hand towards Catelyn, "this will seal the wound while, at the same time, it will prevent infection. Now, I need someone to pull up his… well… his tunic."

Catelyn and Arya, with the help of the GreatJohn, pulled up the tunic to Robb's chest. They turned to Alayne who then peeled away something shiny and transparent away from one side of the cloth before she turned it and placed the brownish coloured cloth over the hole made by the arrow.

Once it was over the hole, Alayne and Catelyn pulled the tunic back down.

"He should be alright," Alayne whispered as she stared at Robb, "his wound will heal in a few days, and…"

"A few days?" Dacey asked.

"A few days," Alayne said as she continued to stare at Robb, "the entry wound will seal, and any infection will be staved off."

Arya was watching Robb's chest, making sure that it rose and fell repeatedly, while Catelyn said, "Lord Umber, take a force of men with you to Greywater Watch, inform Lord Reed that his King requires aid. Tell him of what happened and that we need a force of men to help move my son."

Arya looked over at the GreatJon who was staring back at the unconscious, but breathing, Robb with a stunned look on his face.

"Lord Umber."

The GreatJon shook his head before looking up at Catelyn when the latter called for him once again. He then said that he would leave as soon as possible. Arya looked up at her mother and said, in no uncertain terms, that she was staying by Robb's side.

"You cannot make me leave," Arya whispered glaring at her mother. Catelyn simply nodded her head before she and Arya both turned towards Alayne who had a far-away look whilst she stared at the unconscious Robb, "Alayne?"

"He needs some water," Alayne whispered as she shook her head and then placed the object that projected the light, as well as the remains of the cloth, back into the pack before sealing it shut. Alayne then continued to speak, her eyes focused on the pack, and said, "get some rest. I'll take first watch."

Arya saw Alayne stand up with her left hand gripping the pack off the ground. Arya watched Alayne's eyes linger on the unconscious Robb for a few seconds before she turned and slowly walked towards the dim lights.

Arya saw everyone stepping aside to let Alayne pass. There were so many questions in her head right now as she turned back towards her brother. For now, though, she was going to stay by his side… any question she had could be answered the next day.

 **Greywater Watch**

The Lord of Greywater Watch was staring out the window in the chambers he shared with his wife. The swamp around the floating castle known as Greywater Watch was shrouded in darkness and low fog with the occasional fireflies proving specks of light. In the meantime, people with torches – crannogmen holding out lanterns on small boats – on the surrounding water were searching for fish and frogs. In the distance, there were four other columns of dimly lit boats being rowed away from the castle.

"Howland," a soft voice spoke as an arm wrapped around his shoulders. A slim woman in a shimmering green dress stood walked up and stood next to him, her violet eyes staring out into the sight of the lights rowing away from the castle, "how long will it take to reach the King and his retinue?"

Howland looked over to his wife whose eyes were puffy from shedding tears for the past few days at the fate of their youngest son; it was a fate that the Lord of Greywater Watch revealed a few days ago to his wife. He had told her of how Jojen had a greendream that he and Meera, their eldest child, would lead Bran, Rickon, and Hodor to the lands beyond the Wall. His wife was constantly in tears, and a deep depression for days after revealing what Jojen had told him; that their youngest child… and only son… would not make it back. Howland explained how it was Jojen's destiny to bring Bran beyond the Wall so that he could learn ways to battle the coming darkness.

His wife was so enraged with him that she did not speak to him for days. It was her Dornish blood, he would think to himself when he was forced to sleep in the Meal Hall instead. It was only hours earlier that he returned to his chambers and faced his wife with grave news given to him in a greendream.

Howland had seen the King in the North be betrayed; that he was gravely injured and was on the way towards the Neck. He saw his wife's anger take a back seat as she pulled him into heir chambers and sat him down. He then further explained what he had seen in the greendream where the Northmen were from the Twins which were smoking ruins. He thought the dream was much stranger than his usual greendreams, particularly when Robb and the others were being protected from the air by a swooping falcon.

And then it was the second part of the dream that had him even more confused. His wife stared at him with an eyebrow arched upwards after he spoke of a long-buried stone ring in the South Eastern part of the Neck.

"Seven glowing orange lights with a pool of water within the ring," Howland said, "and then I awoke."

"Howland…"

"Ash," Howland said as he reached for and gently held the hand of the woman he fell for at the tourney of Harrenhal so many years ago, "Ned's death, the burning and sacking of Winterfell, Jojen and Meera leading Bran to the land beyond the Wall, Robb's survival, this swooping falcon, the glowing stone ring, and the dreams I have had of the coming darkness…. I believe it is all connected."

"How?"

"I… I do not know" Howland admitted shaking his head, "I really do not know."

TBC.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alayne**

Everyone was silent as Alayne strode past them with a faraway look in her eyes. Her thoughts were filled with the sight of John's coffin as she stood over it after the attack on London. Her mind was filled with the scent of the flowers and the fresh cut grass as she, her father, her aunt, and her cousin stood over the two graves after the burial even after the rest of their family friends were off to the family home for the wake. She kept on mentally telling herself that Robb Stark wasn't her brother, but she couldn't help thinking about John – the similarities between them in looks were just eerie.

She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she stepped past more of the armoured Northerners, many of whom were staring at her as she walked past. Some of their eyes flickered behind her as they moved aside, and Alayne looked over her left shoulder towards the lit figures of Catelyn, Arya, and Robb – the latter who was still unconscious and his head now being cradled on the lap of his mother. Alayne looked back towards the front and approached her Sparrow. The Northerners nearby gave the aircraft a wide berth especially when it nearly crushed a few of them on the way to making an emergency landing.

Alayne assumed it was a shocking experience to have one of the most advanced space superiority fighters ever built make an emergency landing. She wondered how the locals had reacted, and what they thought of the flying machine resting among them.

Alayne glanced at the ones who were almost hit by the Sparrow – at least she assumed they were the ones as she was receiving glares from them, while a few of the other men spit on the grass as they stared at her.

'Some may think I'm a witch,' Alayne thought to herself while she listened to whispers highlighting that very fact among themselves. For now, though, there was no time to approach them and apologize, 'they just witnessed what could very well be the strangest thing they have ever seen. No telling how they'd act now if I apologize, maybe it's better to give everyone a few hours before trying to explain anything.' She turned her head towards the Sparrow mere inches away. She stopped, the grass underneath her boots were crushed, and then climbed the extended ladder towards the cockpit.

Taking a deep breath, Alayne climbed a few steps up the ladder before looking around at the eyes that were on her. Some eyes were on the metallic body of the plane that was illuminated by the lights on the ventral hull and the sides of the stubby 'neck' section that made up part of the cockpit. She could see the looks of fear and awe of several of the people around the ones glaring at her before she turned towards the ladder that led up to the open cockpit. She continued her climb one step at a time while adjusting the backpack just as she approached the edge of the cockpit and the seat where the bottom cushion was pulled up to reveal a dimly lit recess.

Grunting as she swung the backpack over her shoulder and into the cockpit, Alayne positioned the bag just so it could be stuffed into the recess of the chair before she reached for the raised seat bottom and then pushed it down until there was a 'click' sound. Still feeling eyes on her, Alayne then got into the cockpit and pressed a button to retract the ladder into the body of the plane. At the same time, she could hear muffled whispers around her before reaching out and dimming the lights on the hull while dampening the lights in the cockpit.

To anyone staring at Alayne from the ground, there would be an eerie glow from within the strange metallic device that reflected onto her cream coloured skin. They would watch her with suspicion as she reached forward; in reality Alane activated the sensors and extended them to their maximum range. She could now see if there were any enemy coming down to their position from the direction of the Twins, 'I'll go up into the air and keep in contact with Arya through the subspace radio. Once these guys are on the move again, I'll land somewhere and then take a quick nap before taking to the air again. If Robbie or any one from the task force gets into orbit before these guys reach this Greywater place, then I can ask him to stand-by.'

Leaning back onto the seat after she set up the sensors to detect any possible enemy movements from the Twins, Alayne glanced at the shifting outlines of the people around her. It was dark once again, darker than before since she further dimmed the lights along the hull. Alayne then reached down between her legs and picked up her helmet. She then placed the helmet on her lap before leaning back against her seat. Seeing Robb nearly die, 'well, he did die for a few seconds,' Alayne found her mind rushing back to the funeral. She remembered the standing over the casket and then later over the gravesite of her older brother with her mother buried next to him.

'I keep going back to this thought, how can Robb and Catelyn look so much like John and mom,' Alayne thought to herself before she pressed her lips together. Looking up, she could see the stars pockmarked throughout the sky and the moon was glowing between the wisps of clouds floating overhead. She wondered how far she was from the Brotherhood world which exploded before she looked back down and then sighed. Her eyes shifted up towards the view of Robb, Catelyn, Arya and the others a few meters away before she looked back down at her center console.

'Some of them are gonna be heading off to find this Greywater Watch place,' Alayne thought to herself as a warm breeze brushed past her cheeks. She sighed once again before she closed her eyes for a few seconds. She wanted to brush aside the memories of her brother and mother while reminding herself that Catelyn and Robb were not them. Alayne breathed in and out slowly before she opened her eyes once again to the sounds of groups of people moving around her.

In the dimly lit surroundings, Alayne could see many of the men dropping their weapons onto the grass before settling down while others, who Alayne believed to be sentries, were being given orders by some of the others, 'they are probably the commanders… I think I hear that GreatJon guy saying something about checking the perimeter'.

Taking a deep breath again, Alayne went back to staring at the screen in front of her before she relaxed slightly. 'They're safe,' Alayne thought to herself, 'these people are not mom and John… they're gonna be safe. Robb, Catelyn, and Arya are going to be safe.' Alayne breathed out slowly and then reached for a button on the side of her seat and pressed it down.

A message than appeared on the screen below the central display; it indicated that the emergency beacon was active. The beacon was designed to send an SOS message along with the Sparrow's location to a range of about three to five light years, 'hopefully the Aurora or the Phoenix finds me and then locates the signal. The others should have returned to the rendezvous point by now so… come on… find me.'

Alayne looked up at the night sky and whispered, "mom, John, this has been one strange day." She looked back down towards the screens in front of her and then finished setting up alarms for any intrusions through a perimeter she had already set around the encampment. Once she was done, Alayne grabbed both sides of her helmet and then put it over her head. She would keep an eye on them from the air until she was rescued by her cousin on the Aurora, or by the Phoenix which was leading the task force hunting down the Brotherhood and their bases.

Leaning forward once again, Alayne reached out to press a button that closed the cockpit canopy. The canopy closed shut with a hiss and a click while Alayne began take-off procedures. It would be a few seconds later that the engines were humming as the fighter-interceptor started to float off the ground. She heard the audible 'thud' when the landing gear was pulled up into their recesses before she heard Arya's voice in the helmet's earpiece.

"Alayne? Where are you going?"

"I'll be keeping watch from the air," Alayne replied as she brightened the lights towards Arya, Catelyn, and the others who were staring back at the Sparrow with wide eyed awe. Who would have ever expected something - with what looked to be metallic wings floating without flapping said wings – at least that was what Alayne thought Arya and the others were thinking, "this… uummm… ship of mine allows me to watch all of you… and any threats coming towards you… from the air."

"But the wings… the wings are not flapping."

"It's a long and complicated story," Alayne chuckled into her helmet microphone as she zoomed the central screen to the surprised look on Arya's face, "stay with your brother and mother. I'll keep an eye on you and your people from the air and… and if there is anything amiss, I will send you a message."

"If I fall asleep?" a worried Arya asked.

"Show your mother how to use the device I gave you," Alayne said just before Arya whispered that she misplaced it earlier and had only just found it. Alayne chuckled before saying, "keep it with you, Arya. If you need anything or you just want to talk, you can contact me."

"Alright," was the reply from the little girl as her head turned towards her mother.

Catelyn was looking in Alayne's direction, and she offered a small smile. Alayne nodded her head before saying into her microphone, "we can't stay here for long. Tell your mother that we should leave in four hours at best. We're too close to the enemy, and its dark out. If we stay here for long, then your enemies may strike sooner rather than later." She saw Arya's lips move after turning her head towards Catelyn. Alayne then saw Arya turning towards the man with the scarred face and nodding her head.

"Alayne…"

Alayne saw Arya turning her head towards the Greatjon who was walking back towards the group after talking to some of who, Alayne assumed, were going to be the sentries for the night. Arya and Catelyn nodded their heads at the large man who was staring in the Sparrow's direction with a hint of fear on his face. It was an expression Alayne could see clearly thanks to the brightness of the lights being turned up slightly. She could see the Greatjon turning back towards Catelyn, and Arya and guessed that they were speaking about something. However, Alayne was unable to hear what was being discussed. Alayne then saw another woman, 'Dacey I think her name is,' nodding her head before speaking towards the Greatjon and then to the scarred man.

"Alayne, can Robb be moved safely?" Arya asked through the radio.

"He shouldn't be moved at all, but we have no choice, we can't stay here for long," Was Alayne's reply as she thought about her dead brother once again. Trying to push that image away once again, Alayne took in a deep breath as she recalled the happier times with John before saying, "what I gave him should have started to repair his injury from the inside of his body. His bleeding has stopped so that's a good thing… four hours should hopefully be enough to…" from her monitor, which was zoomed in to Arya, Alayne could see that Arya was speaking – her lips were moving – to the others around her just as Alayne finished each sentence, "heal the part of his insides that were cut by the arrowhead. When the time comes to move out, we should be very careful in moving him. Tell them that you have to start moving away from your enemies in a few hours, and the move has to be slow and steady. I'll be above in the sky to keep an eye on you and on any enemies that could be coming after you."

"Okay," Arya said nodding her head. Alayne smiled at the image of the little girl on her central monitor. It was under the lights of her Sparrow from her current vantage point that Alayne had a thought come into her head, 'Arya kinda looks like a younger version of Aunt Karla'. Alayne chuckled at the thought of her Aunt wielding a sword as she slowly pulled back on her controls. The Sparrow started to rise higher and higher above the grass covered ground. At the same time, Alayne turned down the exterior lights before deactivating them.

"I'll be watching all of you," Alayne gently reminded Arya as the Sparrow shot up and away from the group of nearly nine hundred Northerners, "get Robb some water. He'll need it for his recovery." By the time Arya answered in the affirmative, Alayne was already on her way towards the Twins for reconnaissance.

 **Colonel Robert Collins, the Aurora bridge; a little over twelve hours later.**

The Aurora, a Daedalus class vessel, shot out of a blue cloud emanating from a rip in space before almost immediately decelerating. It was only a few hours ago that the ship had been continuing to scan the immediate area of the destroyed Brotherhood planet from several light years away after the Sparrows returned without Alayne. However, the planet's explosion released a form of uncatalogued energy that was blocking the sensors on the Aurora and the other vessels; and it was only when this energy field dissipated several hours later that the Aurora managed to target the specific frequency used by Alayne's hyperdrive.

Robert 'Robbie' Collins had breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering Alayne hyperdrive frequency; it meant that his cousin managed to open a hyperdrive window before the planet exploded. Once the frequency was confirmed and a course plotted to follow the frequency trail through hyperspace, Robbie, the commander of the Aurora, signalled to the rest of the Task Force that they should return to Earth with all the information that was collected by the strike teams who had their escape covered by the Sparrows. Once this was agreed, he ordered the opening of a hyperspace window.

And now, the Aurora was in space searching for any sign of Alayne's Sparrow while, at the same time, travelling towards a nearby planet. The sensors had shown that Alayne would have exited hyperspace in this planet's vicinity since the trail from her Sparrow's hyperdrive abruptly ended at these coordinates.

"Anything?" Robbie asked as he stared at the holographic overlay just above the window that looked out into space. The overlay indicated two trails, coloured in red, that were heading for the nearby planet, "her emergency beacon? Any sign of Captain Collins' Sparrow?"

"None, sir," the officer on the console to the left of the command chair said as he pressed some buttons. In response, the overlay indicated that the sensors were searching for Alayne's ship; after a few seconds there was nothing to report. Even though the trails showed Alayne's Sparrow led to the planet in the distance, there was no sign of it.

"Any signals from Alayne's subcutaneous transmitter?"

"None sir."

"Any emergency beacon from the surface?"

"None, sir," Robbie was told as he stared at the holographic overlay; he was willing for it to show a sign that Alayne was on the surface via a blip… however there was none. In fact, the sensors indicated there were no life signs other than basic flora and fauna. 'The trails lead here,' Robbie thought as he leaned back on his seat and rubbed his chin while the other arm rested on the armrest, 'there are no other signs that her Sparrow's in orbit; thankfully there's no debris field.' Robbie frowned before he ordered all communications channels open while thinking to himself, 'she has to be somewhere on the planet. Maybe she's injured, or maybe she's out exploring, or…' Every thought that Robbie had were then turned back on itself when he was reminded that Alayne's subcutaneous transmitter was designed to not malfunction. It was the latest model used by everyone who was a part of the SCG and Homeworld Command.

"Channel open, sir," the fresh face female Lieutenant said from the console to the left of the command chair.

"This is Colonel Robbie Collins of the Tau'ri Defense Fleet ship Aurora. Captain Alayne Collins, do you copy?"

Robbie waited with bated breath as he stared at the planet in front of his eyes. He was waiting for something, anything. All he needed was a sign that Alayne had heard him. 'Maybe her equipment malfunctioned and that's why she overshot the rendezvous point?' That was the theory when the Aurora detected the hyperdrive trail from Alayne's Sparrow overshot the coordinated that the Sparrows were supposed to meet with the Task Force vessels.

And now, there was no sign of anything. 'At least,' Robbie thought to himself with lips pressed together, 'I know I have to keep reminding myself of this, but there are no debris in orbit and no signs of any debris in the hyperspace tunnel, and the sensors didn't even show signs of debris on the surface.'

Still there was no answer from Alayne.

'Come on, Alayne, answer,' Robbie thought as he leaned forward and sent the same message once again while getting off his seat. He walked down a step and then towards the holographic overlay while thinking about his cousin, 'Alayne, where are you? You have to be on the surface somewhere so why aren't you answering me?'

"Sir?"

Robbie turned towards the male officer manning the right console and nodded his head, signalling the young man to continue with what he was about to say.

"Sensors are indicating some sort of a disruption field around the planet, sir," the young man said before Robbie turned around and watched a holographic wireframe coloured in green wrap itself around a representation of the planet below. Robbie stepped forward with a curious look on his face while saying that any disruption field that's designed to cover a planet would require a very powerful energy source like a ZPM. However, the young man manning the console said, "there's no signs of any power source."

Robbie crossed his arms over his chest while asking, "anything from the Core room?" Like the Odyssey, and then its later sister ships, the Aurora had an operational Asgard core which worked to complement the other onboard systems. The later versions of the Asgard Core were constructed using the instructions present in the original Core installed on the Odyssey many years ago. However, the one on the Odyssey was unique due to the fact that it was the only Core that contained the living consciousness of the entire Asgard race. And for now though, the Odyssey was in Pegasus on a mission so secret that not even Robbie knew what she was doing there.

"Dr. Fitzgerald wants to talk to you, sir."

"On screen, Lt. Helman," Robbie said to the male officer before turned back towards the Holographic HUD where there was an image of a dark-haired male with thick rimmed glasses and slicked back black hair looking back at him. Robbie nodded at the man and said, "Doc, please tell me you know what's going on?"

"Once we came out of hyperspace, the Asgard Core identified a strange phenomenon, or rather a strange energy pattern, around the planet," the man said.

"A disruption field," was Robbie's response ass he nodded at the planet to the left of the scientist's head, "we got the same results through the sensors."

"According to the information from the Asgard Core," the scientist said as he fixed his glasses while there was an expression of excitement on his face, "the energy pattern making up this disruption field is similar to technology from a race we haven't encountered before, but it is one that we have heard about." At hearing that, Robbie tilted his head with a quizzical expression on his face as the man continued, "the energy pattern is similar to the trace readings from what was left of the Brotherhood world that was destroyed."

"And you're telling me this now? And wait a second, what race are you talking about?" Robbie arched an eyebrow. If the Core had given the answers to that strange energy pattern the sensors detected, then why wasn't he told about it on the way to this world. However, Robbie soon got his answer.

"We only just got the results, Colonel," the man said, his voice getting higher in excitement, "and the energy pattern of the disruption field around the planet correlates with the trace energy patterns we discovered after the Brotherhood's planet exploded. It's Furling, sir. I think we're looking at what could be the result of Furling technology."

"Wh… What?" the Colonel said in surprise as the Scientist nodded his head excitedly. Robbie had read about the Furlings… about how there were only slivers of information on them. No none knew what they looked like, or their culture, or their technology. All Robbie knew was what the others at the SGC and Homeworld Command knew… that the Furlings were part of the Alliance of Four Great Races and that they left the Milky Way many years ago. And now, according to the Asgard Core on the ship, the disruption field's energy pattern was identified as being of Furling design.

"We're still collecting more information, Colonel. But I thought you wanted to know this first… I mean I know I'd want to know about it if I was in your position."

"The disruption field seems to have somehow blocked communications to Captain Collins' ship," Robbie said, even though his mind was still reeling at the thought that the Aurora encountered something of Furling design, "any way to get a signal through the disruption field, Dr. Fitz?"

"I'll check the database now that we know what to look for," was the reply, "I'll get back to you as soon as I've got something."

Robbie nodded his head before the image of Dr Fitzerald's head vanished and all that remained was the holographic overlay.

"Come on, Alayne," he whispered with his hands on his hips, "where are you?"

TBC.


End file.
